The Sage of One Piece
by Archangel630
Summary: Naruto/OnePiece Crossover. Naruto has a dream that he wants to make a reality, however because of the decision he's made when he was younger has branded him a traitor and anyone on his crew. Will they make it to the Grandline with a kill order behind them
1. Prologue: A Meeting with a Shank

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. Naruto and One Piece are own by Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda respectively. Within the story is a direct quote from writer Kenchi618, I have asked his blessing for the use of the quote in my own way and have been given his blessing.

Author's Note: Hello to all readers of Naruto and One Piece and my fans…even though those are small. It has been some time since I have written last and to those that inquire about Naruto Invasion, just know that I am looking into rewriting the story but it will be some time before I do.

I have been reading the great story that is "The Shinobi of the High Seas", and it gave me the inspiration to write this. This story will not be a story where Naruto's universe and One Pieces universe is in the same world; it will be that Naruto's and One Pieces universe are the same.

I have gone to great lengths to include people from Naruto's universe into the One Piece universe, but I won't know if it is good until people read it.

Now sad part, this chapter that I have written has its place in the Main Story but it is part of Naruto's back-story and past. When these are finished I will be placing them into a story of itself that is branched from the Main. Know this, the stories that I post of the back story are not in chronological order.

However, currently I am without a personal computer and have to use work computers, this means that until I receive my own these stories will be short in between.

Also when the main chapters are posted any back-stories written will be over written by the main and will appear at the end of the chapter for your convenience.

Now with that prattle out of the way on with the show.

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Location: West Blue – unnamed island

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Title: Before SofOp - Part 1- A Meeting with a Shank

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The bar was exuberant with loud noises, the clanking of glass cups in the foreground, and the scrapping of wooden legs on the red oak floors. The air was heavy with cigar and cigarette smoke, cheap perfume from the whores in the bar, and the overbearing odor of musk from the local workers. The local men were miners on this island in the West Blue, their bodies were stained from the red dirt they dig through day after day, their teeth had become rotten and infected from improper care, but these men were hard working men. These men fought for everything they wanted, from increased pay, to improved medical, this however branched over to that of human life.

An unimportant patron has had a seemingly hard day, his site manager had given them a sick canary, a canary was important to miners because a canary's small sizes was more susceptible to the invisible and odorless gases that pooled in the mines. During this dig, their canary had died. Without knowing the real cause of its death all miners in his section had left the area. The site manager knowing that the canary was sick and could die at any minute, found their leaving unnecessary and sent them back into the mine, stating that the canary did not die from the gas. The site manager's decision led to the death of our unimportant patrons' childhood friends' death. This lead the man to inform the site managers higher-ups…who incidentally backed the sight managers decision, stating that all the miners in the shaft were expendable, and they could easily hire more, all they had to do was post a sign in town, and be able to hire a younger and cheaper miner that follows their orders.

Events leading to this were already looking bad for the man, so it was to be expected the next part. The man was fired, fired from his job of the last 19 years, and the man wanted some form of stress relief, and chose that of a bar-maid whore. So when he entered he had found that the whore's attention was being spent on a group of pirates, however in reality it was more on the blonde and red-headed men.

Now in an alternate reality, the man would just let it pass and find a replacement whore, who he would fuck until he was finished, the next day rat on the local company owners to the company president, get those pieces of shits fired and black barred, land on the fast track to management, lead the company to hundreds of millions, further become the president of the company, find himself a beautiful wife, have three wonderful children, and live quite well and die in his sleep.

But like I said, that is in an alternate reality. In this one the man feeling quite flustered pulls his pistol from his belt and shoots the bar-maid whore in the back of the head, this in turns cover both the blonde and red-head in brain matter and skull fragments. The bar suddenly becomes quite, deathly, no one utters a sound in fear of the patrons firing on them for ruining the suspense.

The man, who currently is going through the stages of an adrenaline rush, asks every one of the pirates, if they had a problem with what he had done. The red head and his crew didn't seem to care one way or another; however the blonde one raised his hand to the question.

"Now that was quite a callous execution, now what could have she had done to deserve that type of death?"

The blonde stood up from his chair and walked over to the girl, the blonde kneeled down and turned the girl over by her shoulder; many of the bar patrons could not stomach the sight and immediately left to relieve their body of the uncomfortably, that was regurgitation. The blonde observed the girls expression, which was hard, seeing how the pistol had made her face explode and pieces of her face were hanging from a stretch of skin, her expression; however was that of surprise and pain at her last moments. The blonde sighed and covered the girl with his blue jacket.

"A whore shouldn't ignore a man with money."

The blonde stared at the man expecting the man to have more of a reason and seemed to become frustrated when the man said no more.

"You killed a whore…whose only real occupational requirement is to sleep with others for money. Now your response was that she had ignored you…Now follow me because you might get lost. If option "A"…that's you…is going to pay the girl 80 beri, for a night and option "B"…that's me…could, if he wanted to sleep the whores, pay her 500 beri, who do you think the girl rather chose?"

The blonde saw that the man was becoming even more frustrated, and that the man didn't know that the blonde, actually, wanted him to answer the question, and thought it was a mocking rhetorical question.

Seeing that the man was not answering the blonde question, the bar patrons pointed to the blonde.

To the man this was the last draw from the blonde and he lifted his arm and pointed it at the blonde. The blonde's face contorted to that of disgust.

"So you're going to shoot me now? Kill me in cold blood without giving me a chance to defend myself. If you do that the authorities, that if you look behind me, will execute you before dawn breaks, but if you let me defend myself, law dictates that you killed me in self-defense and all you will receive is a 75 beri fine, which to you seems better?"

While the blonde was talking the man did indeed see the officers behind him, however the man become perturbed that the man knew local law, that was a warning sign if you ever saw one. The man however was not thinking with the right frame of mind and decided to give the blonde a fighting chance.

The blonde called the man gracious and the blonde just reached behind his head and pulled his blonde ponytail loose and held in his hand a rubber-band, the blonde then strapped one end to his index finger and let the other end rest at the back of this thumb.

"Alright I'm ready."

With this being said everyone in the bar was perplexed and began laughing at the blonde, even the red haired man, but he and his crew seemed to be laughing for some other reason. The man who initiated the duel was laughing up-hoarsely.

"So… so… you're going to kill me with a… with a…with a rubber-band...?"

The man was trying to stop himself, but ultimately he saw the blonde man's unwavering cerulean blue irises.

"The thing you should be thinking about isn't whether or not I can actually kill you with a rubber-band. The fact whether I can kill you with a rubber-band or not is irrelevant. No, no matter if I can or not, you should know full well that I am going to try, and that should scare you more than anything else and answer your question."

With that said the man just felt his chances of survival significantly drop to a dangerous level, however his prided eroded his fear and pushed him to end this idiotic blonde's life.

The both of them got into ready stances, the man kept his pistol down, waiting for the right moment. Only problem…was that he could not find one. The blonde demeanor and body never seem to flinch once. The man knew at that moment that he had sacrificed his life over a whore. The man lifted his hand up and aimed under a fraction of a second. As his finger contracted against the trigger, he found the blonde hadn't moved an inch.

The loud crack of the pistol, which sounded like a localized lightning strike, foretold the coming ball of iron. The man's eyes were not as fast to catch the balls flight through the air, however others were. As the ball moved closer and closer, the bloodlust in the air rose; people wanted a dead body. When the ball was within striking distance, the blonde did the unthinkable and moved a half an inch away from the iron ball's bath. As the man saw this, his heart seized; the blonde had given him an out, he could have stated neither, when he was asked "what was the better choice", which was a choice that his pride wouldn't think of. He could have done his time and got out, but now he watches as the blonde retracts his thumb out of the bands path, letting the band fly. The man's eyes however were not as young or trained enough to see the rubber-band holding a gold hue, but when the band struck his neck, he could feel how it passed through his neck effortlessly; he could feel his life's water pour out of his wound, he felt when his knee struck the ground, and he felt when his body hit the floor.

At the last moments of his life, the man was angry with himself for his foolishness and temper. The man however didn't expect to hear the blonde's voice at his ear.

"I am sorry you have to die by my hand, as penance I will take all you hate that you have felt past and present, this is so you are able to meet your creator with your slate clean."

The man felt the kindness from the man's words and knew he meant what he said, the man however died before he was able to thank the blonde. As the man died, the blonde stood up from his kneeling position next to the dying man and returned to his seat and conversation with the red haired man, noticing all the while that the room's previous environment had returned, however the patrons seemed to steer clear from his immediate vicinity.

"You seem still to be able to shock and awe those around you Naruto."

The aforementioned Naruto watched as the man he just killed was carried away, Naruto then turned and smiled at the man beside him, his red-hair was the man's trademark and epitaph, but what he saw was the three parallel scars on his face, over his left eye and the missing arm on his left.

"Never been my intention Shanks, people just love my awesomeness,"

Shank laughs and drinks his beer.

The two men were given the major seats in the bar; these were two seats in the middle of the bar with the chairs backs facing a stone wall. This left Shank's men everywhere else, with their awareness focused on their captain, but intently on Naruto besides him.

"Naruto I have to ask, how can you live when both sides consider you a traitor, a traitor of the highest degree, more so then Uchiha Itachi?"

Naruto paused at the mentioning of Itachi's name and takes a drink from his cup and looks at the patrons in the bar.

"Regardless if I am, that moniker will not stop me from reaching my dream. It's just a bump in the road; I just have to step over it."

Shank pauses to hear what Naruto says and barks in laughter and roars in agreement.

"Look at that boys, only 19 and won't let the World's Traitor epitaph stop him. Come, more beers for my crew and our new friend Naruto."

Shank's crew screams in joy and begins to bellow a drinking song.

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Not every moment with our hero is that of joy and fun. No with his epitaph, Naruto will not be stranger to prejudice, he will be met with turmoil and pain, sadness and tears, and in the end he will break. All the pressures will break him; just remember eve the strongest gem will break under enough pressure. Until Next time readers.


	2. Path of Redemption

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. Naruto and One Piece are own by Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda respectively.

Author's Note: I seem to have confused my reader's and I apologies, when this chapter is posted, you will notice that the first chapter will be changed to that of a prologue.

Thanks to all that have reviewed my story, I know from some of you were confused as to what place the previous chapter held within the timeline.

The Prologue happens before the Major Timeline in the story.

Know that the prologue is a part of the short stories that will take the place of flash backs, which I find ludicrous. Each short story is comprised of events happened before the Major Timeline, however each story conveys a passage for the Main Chapters, be sure to look out for them, they are large spoilers for the story.

Also just to clarify the short stories will appear at the end of the chapter, the short stories are filler so to say.

xManner of Speechx

"Speaking" Regular Talking

"_Speaking_" Hushed speaking

'_Speaking_' Thinking

**SPEAKING**Techniques and Akuma no Mi techniques

"…" Long pauses, prolonged laughter, or coughing

Now, on with the story.

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Path of Redemption

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Have you ever failed…? Were you expecting the author to break the fourth wall…So have you? Do you remember how it felt? I have failed at many things but I don't remember how it felt. Do you remember when after that failure you thought of how you could have done things differently? I bet you do… I bet you remember every failure and how you could have changed things, but do you remember how you felt? You know…I lied, I remember how it felt, pure emptiness…nothing, my emotional spectrum was gone and in that moment I felt nothing. How would you deal with that?

How would you cope knowing that for large amounts of your life, you are met with failure? How could you compartmentalize, that every time you tried to achieve your dream, someone causes you to fail? How would your mind react knowing that you were trained to conquer islands and make dreams come true, but every time you make your journey, your very presence was met with failure?

These were the questions floating in his mind. These questions repeated themselves over and over again. These were the questions that ate at a person confidence and made them second guess every decision.

Did he not have enough drive to sail those fabled water. Do these continuous failures make him unfit to lead…? Was he even ready to lead those men? Those men that had dreams themselves, those men that put their faith in him to make them achieve those dreams, only to die under his command, Was he destined to lead all those that follow him…to death?

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Third time, this was his third time leading a crew on an expedition to the Grand Line, and it was his third time he had led a crew to their deaths. People always said that third times the charm, however, to him, he felt this was his time to finally achieve it. He continuously felt this way, over the mountain and into the waters… until his boat came upon those fleets of ships branding that flag; those towering ships, which have an innate ability, to make you feel insignificant. He knew at that moment, that they had used his hope against him. They had prolonged his achieving glory to torture him at this specific moment; they then capitalized in that moment, and fired on his ship.

Those large masses of iron ripping through his ship and crew; his crew, those with dreams to reach the Grand Line, was never able to feel that satisfying exhilaration, when they stepped on their first island…No…the only thing they felt was the cannon balls, the ones that reach up to 95 MPH, eviscerate their bodies.

What do you say to that crewmate, whose entrails hang from their torn body…? Asking you to let them live…? Your answer…? There is no answer, nothing…nothing will help them understand. Nothing will explain to them why they died, and why you lived; you can't explain that they aimed for everything and everyone…but you.

Have you ever lived with the knowledge, that people's deaths were the result of your existence? And that your continued existence will only cause more death and pain. It is at these moments that people ask for deaths embrace, and are given it. Yet no matter how much you beg them, those responsible at taking those lives, will always deny you that much wanted death, and laugh because you begged for it. Yet they do the same thing when you are met with failure, they will give you a life boat, with every essential item you need to survive, and send you off, yelling as your boat drifts farther away, that they wait for your return when you try again.

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Dead eyes watches at the scavengers of the sea fly overhead; dead eyes tear up as they watch the images of all those that have sailed with him meet their ends, meeting grizzly ends; flashing before his eyes.

Even as those eyes are 'dead', they are the only thing on his body showing any signs of life; his skin has browned and cracked significantly by the sun rays constant bombardment. Confusing this was, seeing how the life boat came equipped with a shade, but it seems the man preferred to let the sun destroy his skin.

'_Maybe if the sun rays were a little harsher I wouldn't have to suffer no more._'

Regardless as how his skin was badly marred by the sun, the man felt no pain traveling in his body, the nerves in his body seemed to have been destroyed.

This being said the man did feel pain, as he looked down at his skin, he could pick up the faint traces of the blood that was there before his skin had died.

Did you know that the body has this disturbing effect when a cannonball rips through your body, shredding chunks of tissue and muscle as it pass through you? When a cannonball expels through you, it blast copious amounts of blood at whatever is behind the body.

The blood didn't have any affect on him physically…ridiculous. No the blood reminded him of his crew's deaths, and made his mind repeatedly replay their deaths in his mind. The blood caused him psychological pain instead of physical.

As time had passed, those dead eyes caught a landmark in the distance, a landmark that had a significant effect on him when he was young; a land mark he knew of intimately… As he cried out to the heavens, all his pain that had been building, surfaced from his heart; this was because, they had sent him back to his grandfather broken, his grandfather that changed the face as the world, when he had sailed it; his grandfather, which had helped him in all his endeavors. They had sent him to his grandfather, as a sign…to himself and his grand father… '_you're not the man you once were_.'

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It would be hours before his grandfather would investigate the disturbance that was stopped at his barrier, however this concept was lost on the man, seeing how he had lost his battle to stay conscious, something he wished would have happened earlier. It would be hours before someone came.

His grandfather came upon the life boat, he had knew from his contacts that his grandson was returning to him, however he was not told of his appearance, his grandfather took in his grandson's appearance, and a short time later, the whole island would feel his grief. The island would hear his heart-wrenching scream as it broke the islands peaceful ambiance. The man's grandfather visage, wrinkled and contracted showing his pain, his tough aged skin, would turn red, as the man's grandfather forgets to breath; his hair had grayed from years of worry and age. The old man caressed the man's locks, as his fingers passed through them he could feel a substance crumble in-between his fingers. The man examined the substance and identified it as dried blood. Whether it was the man's or another, the old man could not confirm. The old man's fingers rested on the man's neck, and in that small moment felt his stumble with dread. His grandson had died; they had finally killed him…

The old man's thoughts were interrupted when he felt the vein under his fingers pulse. With a speed and strength not normally available to men his age, he picked up his grandson and sped away, with only one thought in his mind, to ensure that he lived and received proper care.

The old man however, could not quell his grief. He knew that he was, as much as responsible as the others; he only hopes that he would be able to make it right.

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The pulsating thump of his heart, as it pumped his blood through his body, shifted his consciousness, and had woken him up. He knew intimately, that any movement would only exacerbate his condition, he knew full well that the only thing that he could do was open his eyes. Slowly his eyelids open, shifting the substance around his eyes away; the light in his new environment was low, this gave his eyes time to adjust. However seeing how his condition dictated no movement, he was only able to stare at the ceiling above. His awaken consciousness, had heightened his brainwaves to an accelerated level, alerting someone to his status. He heard the door to his room open, and a few moments later an elderly woman entered his line of sight. This woman wore her hair in a tight ponytail and her hair was gray in color, her face seemed to hold worry and sorrow, but she withheld her emotions and returned to her job.

The man did notice that she wore a red dress that reached her ankles, that however was covered by a robe, and had a scarf around her neck. As the woman was finishing up she finally spoke.

"You know a woman wouldn't need to be resuscitated back to life."

Her joke fell short, seeing how the man felt no emotions to laugh. The man heard her sigh and walk closer to his bed.

"It has been two weeks since Hiruzen found your lifeboat floating by the barrier. When Hiruzen brought you in, you heart finally gave out from the exhaustion and heat stroke, we then resuscitated you back to the living. 75% of you skin had died due to constant exposure to the sun, however by the third night your body shed the dead skin. Your body was severely dehydrated and we went through over 40 liter intravenously, so you organs didn't fail. Your body contracted an infection from the blood that you were covered in, which we thought was impossible due to your condition, it seems that in extreme condition even you will get sick. I expect though, you should be able to move your head by the end of the day and handle fluids by tomorrow. Until then do not move and do not try to talk."

As the woman talked, she noticed that the man seemed disappointed that they were able to resuscitate him, this small glimpse broker her heart, and she then sped through the rest, she needed to leave the room. However before she did, she turned back to the man.

"I love you, Naruto."

Not expecting acknowledgement in any kind, she left the room, she wasn't however, surprised to see Hiruzen standing outside the room, his eyes holding so much guilt. Hiruzen notice his wife exiting the room and his resolve broke when she told him Naruto's reaction. Hiruzen's body gave out in response, and his emotional wall crumbled and he wept.

Seeing how his grandparents were close to the door of his room, Naruto heard his grandfather cry for him, the last time was when his eldest son had died out at sea. Naruto's eye began to tear, and he sobs racked against.

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More time had passed since Naruto's arrival to the island, and his actions since then have concerned his family, since Naruto had been approved to speak, Naruto did not; when he had been cleared to eat on his own, he did not. For three weeks Naruto had not moved a fraction of an inch; his daily activities consisted of staring out the window that was positioned over looking the ocean; being given nutrients intravenously, staring out his window; someone disposing of his bodily waste, staring through window; someone moving his limbs for him to continue blood circulation, window…ocean.

His grandparents watched as Naruto's hold on reality was slipping. They knew that if Naruto didn't find something to hold on to, the Sarutobi clan would lose their precious blonde. Everyone on the island would come and try to encourage Naruto with something. Now Naruto was not non-responsive to the people that visited, he would look, at the initial introduction and request for attention, however he seemed to never be interested in what they had or would say and would continue to stare out his window. Sooner then later, his lack of response had caused people to give up hope and stop returning to see him.

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It had been four week since someone came to see him, Naruto never cared that people came to see him, however this next person seem to spark some recognition, he wasn't able to understand why, the person hadn't shown their face, and their back was to him. Naruto did, however, remember that uniform the person wore, that white and blue pattern, and that insignia, he remembered that. When the person entered, Naruto was assaulted by the heavy acidic odor of tobacco. Naruto watched as the person entered, however before they entered all the way, they seemed to be talking to someone beyond his door. Naruto had viewed this all in mere seconds, but found it uninteresting, and turned back to look out his window. He watch as the moon's rays bounced…Suddenly Naruto's view had been interrupted by the person that entered, now Naruto may not have cared about this person, but they were blocking what he _did_ care fore. Naruto next heard the metal scrapping of the curtain rings against the hanging rod, and saw that this person had cut off his view from him.

Naruto, suffices to say it, was annoyed; the first emotion since his awaking, and he was annoyed with this person. However, Naruto was not able to express his annoyance, for two reasons…1) Naruto hadn't spoken since he had awoken, making his voice unused for about six weeks, and 2) this person was deliberately standing in the shadows of his room. Naruto became even more annoyed seeing how this person hadn't spoken, because of this; Naruto let his irritation get the better of him. Naruto turned his body, even though it pained him because of atrophy, turned the lights of his room on; when he turned to reprimand the person, his voice caught in his throat.

Sitting before him was a great person; this person had, what Naruto considered great, power and control; this man, was the hero that defeated the Twelve Gentleman Guardians, a group he was apart of, and was considered, Naruto's strongest supporter.

The man's features were that of jet black hair that was styled slicked to the back, it was short – medium length and his side burns were grown into his beard that traveled all around his jaw, with the strongest brown eyes that held kindness, and his nose was square in shape and slightly on the large size, like his father's.

"A…Asum…Asuma…"

Asuma visibly grimaced as he heard Naruto's voice surface, it sounded as though Naruto's throat was filled with large amounts of sand.

"I seriously don't understand, why nobody thought to close your damn window and shut the curtains?"

Asuma's joke made Naruto chuckle a little, which was to strenuous for his throat, and he began to cough. Asuma gave Naruto a glass of water, which Naruto slowly drank.

"I thought you…were station at …Enis Lobby?"

Naruto's voice was a fraction better then it was before, but each break he had to take a deep breath, and even then it was harsh and gruff.

"They let me leave when I heard."

Naruto's eyes harden with disbelief and Asuma positioned his arms in defense.

"Alright…I assaulted the commanding officer and they sent me home, however having the old man as a father, they wouldn't reprimand me too hard, just time off without pay."

Naruto nodded but felt with the initial icebreaker was over, all that was left was uncomfortably. Asuma saw this and knew he had an opportunity.

"So mom told me that you were cleared to leave, some 4 weeks ago, but your current state of mind, made it unsafe…why are you still here? You hate being a patient in a hospital."

Naruto knew that a great conversationalist would capitalize on his emotions, but he had hoped that family would not, Naruto guess he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up on that.

"If I stay, I won't be risking people's lives."

Asuma had felt the pain from Naruto's words; his littlest Naruto had become too afraid to bring his presence around people.

'_What have you been forced to witness, Naruto_', "That seems a little solemn for someone like you, if you don't ever leave, you won't be able to spread your dream with others."

Asuma's last words seem to wound Naruto.

"My dream…, only causes death."

Asuma knew that whatever made Naruto state his dream akin to death, must have destroyed his preconceptions.

"That seems horrible…accompanying your dream with death…Naruto, I got a question?"

Naruto felt his curiosity being caught by Asuma's words, Asuma decided to continue when he saw that he had Naruto's rapt attention.

"Do you love me?"

Naruto felt his anger spike, when he heard that question. Asuma watched Naruto's expression; he knew Naruto's pressure points better then him.

"How could you sat that! You're my family!"

Asuma stretched his silence to keep Naruto frustrated.

"So how can you say that your dream, a dream that you made me feel was possible…how could demean it, like you did?"

Naruto's energy seem to sap away in those moments, Naruto should have remembered that through his whole life, Asuma never question Naruto's decision, he was his avid supporter when other's had doubted.

"Dreams…dreams to one person, are just that, dreams; but when other share the same dream, the dream becomes a path, a path they will take together. A path that is not always forgiving or easy…a harsh path, one that will leave your broken if you let it."

As Asuma spoke Naruto notice the door handle shift, as if Asuma's words were as a sign two people had entered Naruto's room. One was a woman of rare exotic beauty, her hair was ebony in color, and the bountiful curls gave the woman a wild disposition, Naruto's eyes traveled to her face and her small petit lips bared a ruby sheen of some sorts, but when Naruto reached her eyes, it was her eyes that captivate him, they were the most purest red Naruto had seen to date, yet as predator as Naruto believed they could be, she only peered at him with something akin to love and comfort. Everything else on her could not be as beautiful as what was her natural beauty, everything else was simple; his leering was interrupted by a sudden increase in weight on Naruto's chest.

What stunned Naruto as he looked at the new weight for one, were those same eyes but when Naruto saw the weight reach for his nose for an itch, he saw the nose, which he always seemed to look up at when he was a child, all be it smaller. No the thing that stunned Naruto the most was the love, admiration, and awe that those eyes shined with as they looked at him. The weight also, it seems, to have an infectious smile.

"Did you know…we named him after the greatest hero we've heard of?"

Naruto, try as he might, could not keep himself from smiling, that damn boy was infecting him with his smile.

"Littlest Naru, I would like you to finally meet your namesake, Sarutobi Naruto."

Naruto's pulse seem to skip at what was uttered, the boy Naru wrapped his arms around Naruto, and hugged him as though he would slip away, Naruto loving the hug, was afraid that the boy's surprising would re-fracture his mended bones.

"Naruto-ojichan."

Naruto was taken aback by what the boy had said; however before he was able to correct him, Naru's mother picked him off of Naruto's chest and set him on the ground, motioning to him that they were to leave. The boy groaned slightly but the look in his mother's eye held no room for a debate. The woman walked over to Asuma and kissed him goodbye.

"I'll be done soon, Kurenai."

Naru left the room with speed only know to children, Kurenai sped away but returned and waved goodbye to Naruto.

"I believe in your dream, Naruto…as does my wife, as well as my son…my legacy, believes that you can make your dream become a reality. Your path was set long before I was able to travel down it with you, but just know that _my_ path follows yours side by side, and if you feel your resolve slipping, know that I will be right there, kicking you until you get back up…because that's what I do."

Asuma smiled and left Naruto to his thoughts, Asuma had this damn knack of being right all the time, but Naruto now knew that, his path wasn't a solitary one, he had people with him, however he knew that each path a started with a single step, but to make his dream a reality…he had to remember, why was his dream so important, that he needed it to be fulfilled, but he knew that he couldn't do that lying down. Tomorrow… was a start of a new day.

xxXXxx

Hiruzen and his wife Biwako were in a panic, their cause was, their daily visitations of Naruto had been cancelled seeing how, said person, was missing, and had been for a couple of days. Their search seem to have brought nothing, however if they had paid attention, they would have notice that a small girl was trying, and failing, time and time again to capture their attention, it wasn't until the kid, dropped kicked Hiruzen in the shin, did they notice; the girl explained that Naruto had arrived at her mother's Physical Therapy office 4 day ago and had been there ever since.

When the two reached their destination, they notice that the building windows were blocked by young females, and the occasional male. Biwako stated she would deal with the would-be stalkers, and Hiruzen left her to it…that was before he heard Biwako yelling at them that a real woman would be inside staring instead of leering from outside. Hiruzen heard a large laugh as he walked through the buildings hallways, a laugh that he hadn't heard for good long years. When Hiruzen entered the room he found his grandson in a peculiar position, Naruto was standing upside-down, using his arms to brace himself on parallel bars…wait now it was one arm, his feet seemed to being forced down from the weight of the giant black balls as he balanced them. Hiruzen stand fascinated and…a little jealous that his grandson was able to freely move his legs, with weights mind you, into a full split. The boy seemed to have complete control over his bodies flexibility, a trait he wished he had when Hiruzen was younger, that would have made battles easier; Hiruzen's jealousy was squashed when he heard his wife finish her verbal reprimand, he chuckled when she told the men to find another man, because Naruto had his eye on the opposite sex, and that he would break them in half even if he looked at the same sex. This caused Naruto to fault in his balance and lose one of the weights, before it was able to hit the floor, Naruto let one hand go of the bars and swung around the bar where the ball was falling and re-catch the ball on his foot. Naruto reposition his body and legs and tossed the weights into the air and as they soared into the air, Naruto pushed himself off the bars flipping the air from his push and when he landed caught the weights in his hands.

Biwako came in just as Naruto landed on the ground, she watch as Naruto replaced the weights back into their original place. When Naruto turns back to his grandparents, they both notice a tattoo of some sorts, positioned over his left pectoral, it seemed to be a swirl of some sorts, but it seemed composited of individual words or names.

Slightly annoyed by the grandstanding, Biwako marched to Naruto and smacked him upside the head.

"_**You**_ of all people know that it is dangerous to jump right into physical therapy, without help or guidance."

Naruto shook off the pain of the power that is elderly women, only to grimace at his grandmother words which conveyed her stern annoyance.

"Yes I do, I also know that I am far more trained and regarded to conduct physical therapy than any other, so I should be able to do it myself, right?"

Biwako readied a rebuttal before Naruto words sunk in. Highly annoyed Naruto wasn't expecting a fist to impact his unready abdominal muscles.

"Smartass, respect your elders."

The expected blow landed Naruto on the floor gasping for air. Naruto gave a thumps up and nodded and he tried to catch his breath.

"Naruto? You could have informed us of your departure from the hospital."

Naruto nodded at his grandfather's words, but he didn't agree with them.

"I know that I should have, but if I informed you of that, you would have asked me to take my therapy slow, and I can't risk making you happy if I am to be ready."

Hiruzen and Biwako could feel Naruto's affirmation of their words and they could acknowledge it, however they were confused.

"What do you mean when you say; you need to be ready, ready for what?"

Naruto paused in his breathing exercise and looked up at them, with a look of determination, that wasn't there previously.

"I need to be able to return to the Grand Line."

Hiruzen bit his tongue, to stop it from its use. Images of his defeated, near-death grandson filtered through his mind, those emotions he felt accompanying them.

"Naruto, I do not feel that you are quite ready to pursue that dream of yours quite yet."

Hiruzen had expected some form of rebuttal from his grandson, but come to find that none was uttered, what he did find, was his grandson's current demeanor replaced with that of one of defeat.

"No… you are correct granddad; I am currently too weak to pursue that dream…three times I felt that I was strong to reach that dream…but…"

"Your dream, at the moment, is nothing but words, empty words."

Both Hiruzen and Naruto felt that harsh sting from her words, which was meant to be that, harsh, to the point, blunt, but they were meant to help.

"Biwako!"

Hiruzen had no idea what got into Biwako, the worst thing at this moment for Naruto was to belittle a dream, what ever could she be thinking.

"Granddad! No, it is alright…Grandma is correct, as it is now, my dream are just words, empty…I seem to have forgotten why I felt that my dream was important for it to be accomplished in the first place."

Hiruzen's heart ached at his grandson words; unrealized dreams had the horrible habit of causing tremendous difficulties, especially failure.

"I…I just need time to collect my thoughts, I was hoping that you could send some jobs to me so I can pass the time?"

Naruto knew that if he could just get a start, he could begin to recollect the purpose of his dream.

"Any other time Naruto, I would agree, however, because of recent events that you have been through, I don't believe you realize the massive impact it has had on you, and I cannot have you freezing at a high critical moment, putting yourself and the job I give you into jeopardy."

Naruto remembered times pass when his grandfather spoke like this, they were meant to be clear and precise, but they also meant that there would be no room for an argument.

His granddad was correct, even though any and all physical damage has been healed and corrected, that didn't mean that the mental and emotional damage was at all reversed.

Hiruzen, hastily, exited the building, all the while hating his decisions that he had made, he knew that voicing his reason had destroyed his grandson, new found confidence, however Naruto heavily relied on his power, and not enough on what his heart and mind said. Hiruzen knew that the culmination of Naruto's pain will surface, and he could not, for all intents purposes, send his grandson out with that pain, that pain, that Naruto tried to hide from him, and if he continued to see it, he would have to decline every time, because eyes were the portal to the soul, and the soul never lies.

Biwako on the other hand, felt that Naruto needed that direction to shed his soul of that pain; however Hiruzen was stubborn when it came to protecting his family. Before she left she held Naruto in her arms, telling him that he would get better sooner then he thought.

Naruto demeanor was that of defeat, he accepted what his granddad had said, but that didn't mean he agreed with his summation. Naruto looked around him and found the aura that the environment held to be too much for him to handle, and he decided to leave, knowing that he did not have the need for physical therapy any more. Naruto began walking, his destination was not decided, his path however had local schools and parks along the way, he watched as the children laughed and played and frolicked around.

'_To bring everlasting peace..._'

That was his dream. Naruto remember that his dream was first said as a rebuttal to someone spouting their personal code and felt that their code was to simplistic, he felt that, that code let them constitute whatever they felt they could in pursuit of their code, even murder, Naruto knew the same can be said for peace, but that was because you could not correctly define peace. Now Naruto could remember all of that, but for the life of him he could not remember why he felt that he needed to bring peace to others. It felt…as though a large portion of his heart was missing, the part that understood the reason why. When Naruto's train of thought had come to an end he found that his body had delivered him to the island's port.

As Naruto collected himself, his body relaxed as the ocean sounds vibrated his eardrum; Naruto loved everything that had to do with the ocean, even when he was younger, he found that the ocean had a strange affect on his body and emotions, he could find peace, just by watching the ocean's current, its waves, and its sounds.

Naruto found his attention broken from the ocean, when he felt a hand rest itself on his shoulder.

When Naruto fully comes to he finds that the passage of time for him seemed to have sailed, it was further into the day then Naruto expected. Naruto eyes traveled the owner of the hand. Naruto noticed that the arm that was attached to the hand was at its peak of muscular shape, on the chest of the owner, was a dark grey, close to black sleeveless shirt, his shorts were of the same color, but was tied by a white sash, his feet were covered by simple sandals. The owners face held the universal signs of aging, crow's feet, liver spots, and wrinkles, his hair was an ashen grey, as well as his goatee. His eyes had aged as well because his eyes needed assistance for sight with glasses.

Naruto felt his heart swell with care as the man spoke to him.

"It's a little ominous that _**I**_ was able to sneak up on _**you**_."

Naruto smiles at the man's smartass remark and stands to meet the man, and hugs him.

"It's great to see you Tazuna."

Tazuna smile shortly before it fell, Tazuna felt that the strength behind the hug was lacking, considering the bone crushing hugs he received previously from the man. He would have commented but warnings, which he was given previously about the boy, halted his need to comment.

"Feelings mutual."

Naruto halted in his hug and began to look left to right, as though he was looking for something, as though someone was missing.

"Hey Tazuna…uh, where is Kaiza? I thought you were teaching him the ins and outs of the company?"

Tazuna had to train his face…so the emotions, which were swirling in his heart, didn't surface. Naruto, however, was able to catch this, but with no evidence, just suspicion, it could have been anything.

"I finalized his training about a year ago. I am here to start my retirement; I am taking your grandfather up, on his wish to go fishin' with me."

Naruto surface emotion did not reflect his inner. Subterfuge…

Naruto knew his grandfather better then anyone else, besides his grandmother. Naruto knew that, because of a previous, gruesome, altercation with a fishman, millions of beris in property damage, and a very large mob of fishmen and merfolk alike, wanting to run you through, as discriminative as it was and stupid, his grandfather had a phobia of hurting any and all ichthyoids (Fish)…for fear that if he does, the mob will reappear again.

That being said, extensively, Tazuna told Naruto a story that had no possibility of being true, this meant that Tazuna wasn't here because of his retirement, which meant that Tazuna was here, because of something having to do with Kaiza not being here.

Do you know those moments that when you say something you can change the projected course of something? Naruto had one of those moments in front of him, as Tazuna was walking away from him, he could have stopped him and asked the most apparent question, and receive the truth. However, Naruto's mind propelled at what could happen if he did. He'd learn the truth, barge in and tell his grandfather that he was going to help Tazuna, not listen to his grandfather's reasoned wisdom, because he has to prove he is not weak, get to wherever they need to be, Naruto makes a large mistake, because of his stubbornness not to listen to his fear, and Tazuna dies because of it.

These thoughts speared their way through Naruto's mind, spark a small fire of doubt, which transforms into a forest fire.

'_Are you really that strong, that you can protect him? You couldn't even protect your own crew when the time came, what makes you think you could protect him?_'

Naruto's body locked all the muscles in his body, preventing him from uttering a single word to stop Tazuna, however if you could, you would be able to read his aura, which was suffocating with guilt and shame.

Naruto could only imagine Tazuna's death and that…haunted him, never thinking even once to use that to propel his determination, to help him succeed.

Naruto on any other day would not let this happen, however because of his emergence and hospitalization, he let fear control him, but because of his recent exploits, family had been informed of his condition, and the one member of Naruto's family, that thought of Naruto as his 'Boss', had found this Naruto's actions suspicious, his boss never would have let a friend go, even after that obvious lie. The member decided that this imposter must be shadowed, and when the opportunity called for it, dispose of this imposter. The opportunity came when the 'fake' walked up to a local swimming pool. It was then the member pounced.

xxXXxx

Sadly, Naruto was oblivious to his pursuer and his doom, and Naruto reflected on his plan, Naruto needed to set back out on the sea, he needed to remember why his dream must be achieved, why he pursued it with such tenacity, he needed to get back to remember why it was important.

"**DYNAMIC ENTRY**!"

xxXXxx

Somewhere on the Grand Line, a green blur was fighting against impossible odds, odds that sadly, were going to end with his death and the death of his protégé, the enemy mercenary had planned a well thought out ambush, an ambush that had destroyed any hope of survival, an ambush that resulted in a defeated green blur. Suddenly the green blur came to a halt, the blur has thick eyebrows and black hair cut in a bowl style. The blur also wears a green jumpsuit, orange striped leg warmers and a standard flak jacket, unzipped. A forehead protector, which is attached to a red cloth and is worn around his waist, like a belt. The green blur looks out at the sea towards East Blue. A sudden swelling pride envelops him, destroying his defeated aura, that would have resulted in his death if it was left like that moments more.

"YOSH! LEE! Redouble your efforts! Our Youthful flame has erupted in another somewhere else! We must live longer to see this person!

Elsewhere the man's protégé, Lee, slows slightly to connect his spin kick to his opponents head, Lee, looks exactly as Gai, in terms of dress but his face is different.

"HAI! GAI-SENSEI!"

That day the defeated enemies, curses the person responsible for reinvigorate those two green demon's determination.

xxXXxx

Naruto felt the wind change slightly when he was sitting, drenched which was a result by being kicked into the local pull by his attacker; his attacker, which who vehemently apologies.

"I am so sorry Naruto-niisan; I thought you were an imposter."

Naruto sighed and felt annoyed at the boy, but left it alone and patted him on his back.

"I guess I should take this as a reminder not to gloom in public, eh Konohamaru…? Congratulations on the promotion, the new duds suit you."

Sarutobi Konohamaru was wearing the uniform of a commodore second class, his stripe was a single row of lace below a ring on both sleeve and shoulder-board of his leather jacket, his white shirt was a button down shirt, around his next was the blue ascot; he wore black slacks with black combat boots. Konohamaru rubbed the back of his head, bashfully. Naruto chuckled at Konohamaru's reaction to praise.

"Question Naruto? Is why you won't speak up of Tazuna's lie, because of what happened at Cactus Island?"

Konohamaru never would have guessed that his mentioning of 'that' would have such a violent reaction. He watched as Naruto's breathing became shallow and he began to choke. What Konohamaru didn't see was that Naruto's mind was replaying every single moment in Naruto's mind of that horrible day. Naruto was stuck in his mind until a blast of water impacted his face.

Naruto sputtered, getting rid of the water in his mouth, Naruto looks at Konohamaru, and guess that his reaction must have scarred him, because his look conveyed pure fear. Konohamaru handed Naruto a glass of water and a towel, which he must have gotten from the building attached to the pool. Naruto took both and indulged himself, however Naruto only felt disappointment, not at Konohamaru, but himself.

"I guess you would hear about that from granddad?"

Naruto noticed that Konohamaru did not confirm nor deny his question; instead Naruto saw that Konohamaru seemed nervous about something.

"Ano…I came here straight from Marineford, as soon as I heard, I just arrived; I have been on a boat this whole time. Base broadcast of a sit. rep. after it happened."

Konohamaru felt that if he informed Naruto he would return to his depression, however he found that Naruto's aura did not have an ounce of depression.

"They wouldn't be doing there jobs if not everybody knew, my failures seemed to be a mighty force for wagers, I bet you people made a lot of money."

Konohamaru seemed astonished by what Naruto had said, but Konohamaru knew the truth, Naruto wasn't the only one that was trained in situational awareness, Naruto's aura was blazing with shame and remorse. Konohamaru seemed to fidget with his next words knowing that they would cause a reaction, not like the other one but close to it.

"I have a message for you…"

Naruto stopped his brooding to listen to his relative, he just notice however that his ascot was ridiculously long, longer then others he'd seen.

"Garp sends a message to you."

'_Oh shit!_'

Naruto's mind couldn't quite forget that man, he forced his way into your life like a charging bull, and he was a fucking simpleton.

"He says, that he heard you put up no fight when your crew was being killed…he says that only must have meant none of those people must have been precious to you."

Those last ten words brought out memories that assaulted every neuron in Naruto's brain, it also left a nasty taste in his mouth after the memories left his grasp, because he knew that it was true…he just didn't understand why.

"You know I agree with him, for obvious reasons, no one on that boat had a place in your heart."

Naruto felt the disappointment from Konohamaru, Naruto's first reaction in his mind was to show he didn't have the right to be disappointed, even though he was going to voice his rebuttal, a voice in his head said he was not going to like the counter argument.

"And let the people I care about die, knowingly take them to their deaths? What the hell are you thinking Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru stood up and dusted his clothes off, as he turned to leave, one last thought popped in his head and he turned with his face showing perplex.

"So what your saying is that, if _**you**_ had a crew that consisted of your family and friends, you would let those cannonballs ripped them to shreds?"

Nope…that voice was correct, Naruto didn't like the counter, Naruto watched Konohamaru leave, completely numb after his words.

Now that was a question. Naruto who considered his family and friends, more precious than the obtaining of his dream, would he let that happen? His crew was guaranteed an execution as soon as the entered. The question however changed, would he have a crew that had family and friends…but if he started a crew and they knew…

'_**Would you have a choice in the matter…? You know it's good to see the world again**__.'_

Those words were his owns, but the voice wasn't, Naruto turned his head to find the source of those words, he wasn't, however, prepared for what he was about to see.

Resting next to him, on the broken fence Konohamaru kicked him through, was a young boy, which Naruto deduced from his limited bone growth, cranium shape and size, and muscular structure, was about between 5 and 8 years old. Naruto noticed the boy bouncing his back against the fence with a barely contained energy. Naruto watches as the boy's blood re hair, that was tied in a pony-tail, sway with each bounce; now the boy's shirt was caught each time he bounce on the fence, the shirt orange in color, and his white shorts, which were browned by the ground underneath him. Naruto also notice that the boy was barefooted but seemed to have no blemishes, cuts, scrapes, abrasions, bruises, not even calluses.

Naruto told the boy to go away, but his body seems to freeze when he saw the boy's face, starring right back at Naruto, was a mirror image of him when he was younger.

'_**It's been awhile huh…? Life seems to have suck for you, since the last we talked**_.'

Naruto was about to punish the child for this disturbing joke, until, he notices that the world around them seem to have frozen still, Naruto's mind felt fear rush through him.

The boy seemed to notice and smirked playfully, all the while he stared at the sea like Naruto does.

'_**Anyway…could you tell me where is Sarutobi D. Naruto is?**_'

Naruto felt that the question must have been asked wrong or he had heard it wrong.

"I am Sarutobi…"

His next words were interrupted when a tiny little fist decided to stake claim on his face, the force behind the fist was enough to propel Naruto a few feet away from his previous position. When Naruto was able to remember what hit him, he peered at the boy and notice, that other then his arm and fist, the boy never moved a fraction. The boy's eyes were still watching the ocean, which was the only thing that was still moving.

'_**Well you're wrong, Sarutobi D. Naruto left for his first stab at the Grand Line with his first crew…and an imposter returned in his place**_.'

Naruto didn't seem to want to fight the boy's words; he always felt that something was missing ever since the first time.

'_**No…the real 'Naruto', ever since, has been drowning in a sea of remorse and guilt, ever since he saw those Marine flags, waiting for him the first time. I have been waiting for that 'Naruto' to return, but you, you thing, took his place.**_'

The boy's face featured a look of pure disgust; something Naruto didn't think looked right on the boy's face.

'_**Can you tell me…where is that boy that gave me life? Where is the boy that told me his Ultimate Dream…? TELL ME…! WHERE…WHERE IS THAT MAN THAT PROMISED ME THAT HE WILL ALWAYS BE MY FRIEND! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!**_'

Naruto became increasingly troubled; this boy's words hit home much more then everyone else. Naruto watched, as the boy was speaking, as the boy became increasingly angered, how he lunged from previous prone position, to striking his fragile child hands against Naruto's chest, the boy's previous strength, when he first struck, seem to have dwindled to that of his age, a child's. The child emotional culminated at that point, and he buried his head in Naruto's chest, Naruto's eyes rested on the boy as the boy's body tremor'd with sobs.

Knowing that he was at fault for this crying boy, Naruto decided to comfort him, Naruto wrapped his arms around the boy. The boy accepted until moments later, when his sobbing stopped and he pushed Naruto away. The boy's aura was filled with anger, and his words were serrated with that anger.

'_**Sarutobi Naruto, the real Sarutobi Naruto…he would have never forgotten what true strength came from. The real Sarutobi Naruto would have never hesitated at a chance to protect those he cared for. The real Naruto…he would have never forgotten a promise he made…so if Naruto would never have forgotten, then who the hell are you to tarnish his name?**_'

Those last words had a tremendous affect on Naruto, those words; seem to make his body attack itself out of whim. When Naruto's mind un-fogged, the world was right again, but the boy had disappeared, However as much as his pride had protested, the boy was correct… he had forgotten who he was ultimately, he didn't forget his dream or why he felt it was important, the knowledge still lingered there, its just, he had forgotten what type of person he was. When did he allow his survivor's guilt to cripple him?... honestly, he didn't know. Before hr never hesitated at anything, he planned as he went, he especially would never hesitate to protect those he considered precious.

Naruto's words seemed to open a flood gate within himself, because his whole body was enveloped in warmth, as though as a fire had erupted in his being. He may have forgotten who he was, but time would fix that, and he promised it the world and everyone in it that he would not let it happen again.

'_Thank you, Yūji._'

Naruto presence seem to shift from reality, Naruto disappeared all together from the area, if Naruto stayed, just a fraction seconds more, he would have heard the wind give response to his thanks.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Now onto the short story. HAHAHAHAHA

xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Short Story – Fool's Gol

20 years before main story

xxXXxx

Granddad had me scared, a couple of days ago one of his students made his way onto the island; normally this never happened, but grandma wasn't scared and neither was Asuma-aniki. However what scarred them was granddad's reaction to his student's news, a Pirate King was captured and they were going to execute him, or something.

Granddad was teaching me how to feel a room's aura before you said or did anything. He told me what to expect when I felt the main three, anger, happiness, and sadness, he said all other emotions come from these three. But what I felt was worse then anger, it felt like his anger was trying to push everyone out of the room. Granddad told his student that he was going to the execution site, and to inform them that he was issuing a cease something. He told his student whoever tries to push it was demoted.

Now Granddad normally went on these trips without anyone ever, but this time he pushed that I was going and no one should get in the way…no one did.

Now I am on a boat going to a island called Loguetown, watching Granddad just watching the sea. Granddad's boat was simple; deck, masts, cabin, and helm. His crew was very small, two people, never learned there names, always silent…jerks. Always had their collars covering their mouths, I once asked Granddad why they were always quiet?

Granddad seemed to joke and said that they made a deal with the sea god, Davy Jones. Granddad never explained further then that, but he only said that if you were real quite you could hear buzzing noises coming from them.

Never got close, their continuing silence creeped me out.

When we arrived at the island, a lot of people were there, it seems someone went against Granddad's orders. The man's name was Mizuki, he told the executioners that the king was going to be put to death today…that man was demoted to private recruit, without the chance to advance for 9 years. Granddad arrived just in time to see another marine talking to the king; I was able to hear him say 'take care of him'. However, as soon as Granddad entered, the other man was ordered to leave. Granddad told the marine that he was going to talk to the king, and he was to wait outside for him. The marine only said 'yes sensei'. Never understood but Granddad seemed to have a lot of students.

I watch Granddad set a stool near the cage and the two of them seemed to just stare at each other, until Granddad broke the silence.

"So it finally caught up to you?" Concern was present in Hiruzen's voice.

The king nods.

"While on Raftel."

Hiruzen grumble at the answer, that place did peculiar things to one's body.

"You crew's current location's have been fabricated, like you requested, Gol."

Gol's face twitches of that of relief. Little Naruto saw this. He never expected a man of his stature, would be worried about his crew when he was about to die Naruto found that inspiring.

Gol looked at the second body in the holding cell and found himself smiling at the boy as recognition filters through his face.

"Is this who I think it is?"

Hiruzen just nods; Gol then looks from the boy to Hiruzen.

"He should not be here Hiruzen."

Naruto felt annoyed that he was being passed off like he wasn't wanted. But Naruto felt there was something more to it and he began to feel the room's aura, which was actually the people's aura. He found that the man, Gol, was giving off the aura of complete sadness, but at the same time complete happiness. Naruto also noticed that his aura was directed at him.

Now Naruto was never a reactive personality, he was in your face demanding answers. He saw that his presence was being ignored after the initial awareness, and he wanted answers.

Naruto moved in between the old man's conversation and looked Gol right in the eyes, eye he just notice were purple in hue.

"What am I to you?"

The question seemed to shock Gol into silence, his coat seem to rustle with nervousness, a feeling he knew, because he felt the same when Grandma would accuse him of stealing cookies.

Gol could not figure how the boy was able to piece that together at all.

"How can you assume you mean anything to me?"

Gol's voice never waiver or faulted when he spoke but Naruto hid that expression like he already knew.

"Granddad has been training me to be able to read a room and people, your aura showed extreme sadness and happiness. Which Granddad states is concern. How can I assume, it's because you had the same aura when Granddad assured you of your crews safety. I just pieced that you have great concern for someone you don't know, when you said should I be here, which you have only showed to someone you feel connected to, so I guessed that I am someone of great importance to you."

Gol seemed to grumble at something and aim his hate towards Hiruzen.

"Your words are confusing, but you're right, I am concern for your well being because…you and I are family. Now I know we don't have the same surname but our blood is the same."

Naruto felt that information clear up a lot of questions eh had about his life. Naruto knew that he would not be able to ask many questions but knew he had to ask one.

"Mother or Father?"

The question was one that Gol was ready for; memories flickered in his mind though.

"Mother"

Naruto sighed as a heavy burden seemed to settle on his shoulders. Naruto always felt that he was different from the rest of the family and suspected as much. Naruto was ecstatic that he was related to royalty, never knowing what Gol was king of, however Naruto wanted to know more.

"Do I have family?"

Those words seemed to stop both men's side conversation quite abruptly. Hiruzen knew that informing Naruto of any familial connection would spurn questions, he just hoped not this question, Hiruzen weighed the pros and cons, and the cons outweighed the pros. Hiruzen couldn't risk damaging him further. Gol however was a dead man; he didn't have to deal with the repercussions.

"Your existence is a large government secret, when you discover it, you will understand why. Both your parents are alive, however both do not have good standing with the World Government. If one were to claim you as their child, it would bring unimaginable problems onto you. If both did, all hell would break through. Know that they do both love and I know it kills them they have to keep you at arms length."

Naruto's understanding was not developed to comprehend what he truly meant but he knew that in time he would, but he did understand the last part. Naruto seemed to have the need for fresh air and began leaving the holding cells. Gol however called out to him.

"Naruto… before you leave, you do have a cousin. He's not born yet, but he will be, if you ever meet him…can you make sure that he is on a good path and if not nudge him to one?"

Naruto glowed at the prospect of a close relative and agreed. Naruto left the cells and disappeared when the door closed.

The auras in the cells seem to intensify as Hiruzen barred down on the man in front of him. Gol had to admit that being given the evil eye by the God General was scarring the shit out of him.

"You have given him knowledge that he was not ready for. He may be your Grandnephew, but Minato gave me the responsibility to protect him, that type of knowledge to a FIVE YEAR OLD will have disastrous results…why are you laughing?"

AS Hiruzen was talking Gol, expectably, felt fear however when the thought of the boys lineage came to mind he began to laugh.

"You forget the very most important thing about Naruto, Hiruzen… Naruto's mother is Uzumaki Kushina. That boy is the living embodiment of will and determination-ttebaso."

Hiruzen seemed annoyed that he forgot that last tidbit, but it all changed when some marines came in expressing that it was time. Hiruzen watched Gold steady his breath and let himself be led away; Gol however did stop and spoke his friend for the last time.

"Be sure to protect Naruto, even from himself."

xxXXxx

When Naruto left the cells he noticed that the spectators amount seem to have tripled. However Naruto was not concerned or even caring about this. His concern was on his relative Gol, if he was a king, why was he being executed, He asked several people, but either they stated he shouldn't ask or that Gol was the devil. What type of man could he have been to earn this type of hatred? Naruto was staring at the ground when he came up to feet wearing simple sandals.

"Excuse me sir? But could you tell me what type of King, Gol is?"

Naruto heard nothing and began to walk away. He slows however when he hears a reply.

"Gol D. Roger was the Pirate King."

Naruto stops and turns to look at the man that answered his question. The man wore an orange shirt with light-brown spotted bermudas, hanging off his shoulders was a white coat, his face however was one Naruto knew of, the man had a stripe like facial hair across his lower jaw, round eye glasses a fixed on his eyes but his right was scared, his hair was not restrained by any appliances and just flowed.

"I find it strange that a child, like you, is here."

Naruto felt the slight against his age, but he had a rebuttal ready.

"You say that but there are more children here than at a daycare center."

The man stops and looks around and sees that the child was right. The man looks at the boy with curious interest and indeed finds something interesting, he never announces it, but he sees it.

"Well other than that, what are you doing here alone?"

Naruto again felt that the man's words were not a slight against him; they just had the unfortunate result. Now normally Naruto would think before he spoke but when he was upset, it was that much harder.

"My Granddad is talking to Gol right now about something…and is it so strange that a boy would ask about his relative's royal status?"

Naruto was lucky that the crowd exploded in cheers when the hero that captured the Pirate King exited the cells a second time. The man in front of him unfortunately heard everything and was shocked at the knowledge.

Naruto saw what the people were screaming about, but found he didn't care about a hero, just his family. Naruto looked back at the man and found his stare unnerving. Naruto, there knew of his mistake but let it go, no way you could take that back.

"Well you asked about me, I'll do the same…wouldn't Gol's request become nothing if you were caught, Silver-sama?"

Silver Rayleigh, First mate to Gol D. Roger, didn't seem so surprised after he remembered that the only man to go into the cell was Sarutobi Hiruzen, he understood the boy's question, but the boy didn't understand his actions.

"I care for my captain, boy. I came for my best friend. Gol knows that his whole crew is here to see him off. So does the Marine's here, however we are small potatoes compared to Gol, and to answer your initial question…Gol didn't care for his epitaph, he cared about who ever he cared about, he would destroy islands if that island had a hand in his nakama's pain. Gol cared, that's it."

Naruto felt the words resonate in his soul, however Naruto felt things were about to change for him. The square suddenly turned silent, a wave of power rushed over the people, Naruto however recognized his grandfather's call, it meant it's time to pay attention. Naruto turned and watched as his relative walked up that long staircase.

Each step seemed heavier then the next to Naruto, Gol's back was facing the crowd, that had filled the square, leaving barely any room, his large red coat brushing the stairs with each step, his golden shoulder epaulette swing with each movement, his collar blocked the back of his neck from the hot sun. When Gol reached the top, the executioners moved their blades as he moved closer.

"Have you any last words?"

One of the executioners asked with his spear-sword poised for any kind of reaction.

Gol turns his face towards the guard, his smile and mustache seemed to be joined in the same cheshire grin.

"Can you take this off…? It's chafing me."

Next to Naruto, Rayleigh laughs softly. The executioner gives Gol a stern rebuttal. Slightly annoyed Gol comments.

"_Why would I run away now…hmm_. That's a little saddening…"

Gol then walk further on the platform, and drops his body to the floor, crossed leg facing the crowd.

"Well, go ahead and finish it."

Naruto found those words strangely placed and stored it away for a question for his grandfather.

In the back ground , it seemed that the church bell was counting down, the executioners cross their blades against one another and then station them near Gol's neck. The crowd seems to groan with nervousness and they stare expectantly at the platform.

The anticipation was palpable to the crowd, however that was destroyed when a man, a ways from Naruto and Rayleigh yells for the Pirate Kings attention. Both the executioner's and Gol look at the man.

"What did you do with your treasure…? It's somewhere on the Grand Line, isn't it…? You have it, don't you…? The greatest treasure in the world!"

The crowd watched as the man asked his question, some with shock that he would interrupt the execution, Naruto, on the other hand watched as the executioner's moved to reprimand the man for speaking.

The man did not seem to be done because he began yelling again.

"Your one special treasure…? ONE PIECE!"

Everyone's attention turned to Gol as he chuckled, and even began to laugh; the crowds were on pins and needles, waiting for a reply

"My treasure?"

His voice spurn the executioner's into action, it seems they did not want Gol to speak.

"That's enough!"

Gol didn't hesitate to speak next.

"If you want it, I'll let you have it…go look for it…"

The executioner's began their thrusts to end Gol's life, before he spoke more.

"I left all of it at that place!"

One of the executioner's gave the order to execute, the spear-swords puncturing Gol through the chest. The crowd stood still for a few seconds. To Naruto it felt like a lifetime. The crowd then exploded into a uproar.

Naruto notice that the executioner's seemed confused, Naruto then noticed Gol's face, it held hat same cheshire cat grin, as the crowd continued to roar, Naruto noticed that Gol's blood was pooling as he sat. Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at the man, it was Rayleigh.

"With his last few words, it seems that he has caused jubilation."

Naruto chuckles and watches as Rayleigh leaves, confused as to why, Naruto turns and sees his grandfather and then understands,

"Come Naruto, it is time we left."

Naruto agrees and they weave through the crowds to arrive to his grandfather's ship. As they are disembarking Naruto notice that Loguetown was beaming with an aura of extreme happiness. Naruto felt his grandfather stand next to him.

"I wish Gol did not inform you of your lineage, it will make it that much harder to keep it contained… Naruto you must know…"

Hiruzen was cutoff when Naruto raised his hand.

"I can see that his death is met with happiness, I know that if people find the truth, it could mean the same for me, however I can tell the people were scarred at what the Marine's painted him as. But I know he was a good man."

Hiruzen could hear the maturity in Naruto's voice but he was interested how he felt he knew that.

"And how is that?"

Naruto looked at his grandfather and pointed at him.

"Because, you considered Gol D. Roger your friend, and I know that all you friends are good."

Hiruzen smiles at Naruto and pats him on the back.

"Granddad I want you to really train me."

Hiruzen did not have a visible reaction to this and just stared at the departing island.

"Naruto I have only trained you to recognized threats, whoever and whatever they may be, if you wish to go further you must understand that what I teach you next will be difficult, on top of recognizing you are going to learn to dispatch them, these means that you will be learning to kill, because, Naruto if you truly wish to learn everything about yourself and your family, you better be prepared to fight for your life."

Hiruzen could tell that Naruto was thinking deeply, but he could tell by Naruto's aura that, the boy was determined.

"If I want to change this world for the better, I guess I have to."

Hiruzen felt the wind change slightly, and he knew that to be a good omen.

"Well let us prepare you for your path."

xxXXxxENDxxXXxx

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I have to say that this chapter, among others is going to be the hardest to write, this is because I find that when a person has a weakness, when that person learns to strength their weakness they will become more powerful. One thing people must know that for all intent purposes Naruto is weak at the moment. This is because Naruto became affect with psychological crippling Survivor's Guilt.

This being known you cannot just make yourself better, it takes time and healing. I have made a powerful Naruto but I need to make him believable. Stories that have God-like Naruto's I can't finish them because there is no chance that Naruto can be defeated. Defeat brings about humility, something people need plethora of.

Naruto will be affected by the one thing no one can overcome, fear. What he will fear ties in closely, with his survivor's guilt.

You are going to see a lot of Naruto doubting himself and that of other's, I cannot say for sure if this will ever go away, just know that, regardless of what ails Naruto he will always be, a goofball and the most unpredictable person you've met.

Another thing, be sure to read real close to the story, their will be reference to the Naruto world and those things in them.

Thank you for your time and patience.


	3. Path of Reinvention Arc: Fragile

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. Naruto and One Piece are own by Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda respectively.

xManner of Speechx

"Speaking" Regular Talking

"_Speaking_" Hushed speaking

'_Speaking_' Thinking

**SPEAKING**Techniques and Akuma no Mi techniques

"…" Long pauses, prolonged laughter, or coughing

Now, on with the story.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXX

Sage of One Piece: Path of Reinvention Arc

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Sound and Matter, normally you wouldn't think they would go hand in hand. Now if you took fourth grade science you would know what makes up these things, but if you don't…one go look it up, and then feel pretty dumb for a while. Matter is anything that has mass and occupies volume (takes up space). Now if you don't know what mass is or volume, please return to the fourth grade and retain that information. Matter is commonly known to have four states (or phases): solid, liquid, gas and plasma, however in connection to sound, plasma cannot be accurately defined.

The liquid state of matter fills the volume of an area and molds to it design. The gas state of is widely dispersed in the given volume. Solid matter holds its own shape and is in a fixed volume within a space. Why have a made you read a large amount of science? It is because of this, sound is vibrations, we only hear things because our ear drum vibrates following the sound that entered our ears and our brains breaks down the vibrations and turns it into information that we can understand. So this means what? Sound cannot pass through the states of matter, impossible…sound does however vibrates and bounces off of matter. For sound to be heard it needs to vibrate; for a gas, because the molecules that make up the state are so far apart and because it fills an entire volume of area, the sound must travel longer distance to bounce off of molecule, making it lose vibrations and we can't hear anything until the sound reaches us at a later time. For a liquid, it bounces through because liquids molecule are closer together but the sound is dispersed between the molecule and a normal sound would lose its octave, we would hear it but it would be muffled. Solid it bounces straight away; this is because the space between the molecules is too small for the vibration to go completely travel through so the vibrations will bounce off.

It is this information, which is traveling through an elderly gentleman's head, a gentleman that is dressed in warm fur material robe, to battle the cold in this particular area, upon his head is was a crown of gold and other precious jewels. The clanking sound of metal hitting metal filled the area, as his guards skittered through the closed space of the hall, which was leading to a room which was his intended destination. The man suddenly falters slightly when a servant lifts the tails of his robe; this was because the servant wishes to prevent his lord's robes to pass through the liquid that was pooling on the floor before his lord's path. The Elderly Gentleman looked at the liquid as is shined light from a nearby source, the liquid had a hue of red and was slowly seeping from punctures in the brushed metal, a metal that was formed as posterior armor for the upper back. This armor was fastened on a body of a man, a man that the Elderly Gentleman never had the pleasure of knowing, but the Elderly Gentleman's heart ached knowing that the man had lost his life. The Elderly Gentleman's attention was caught as his eye's swept over the body; an armament was situated near the lifeless body. This armament confused the Elderly Gentleman, seeing what the room was designated as; this puzzled him and caused suspicion. Looking over the information he had at the moment, the Elderly Gentleman deduced that the lifeless man brought a pistol here for a reason, seeing how the man wore the armor of his guards; the man knew that pistols were forbidden amongst his guards and his kingdom. The room in question, had a special purpose and its purpose was already being put to use, there were two occupants, one was already locked behind a closed door, the other was bound in shackles, on his wrist and ankles, his usual clothing were replaced by a black skin-suit whose soles of his feet were padded by a material the Elderly Gentleman has never seen before.

This answered the query the Elderly Gentleman postulated before he arrived here; why is it that in his special designed castle, which was special so no matter what sound echoed, that the other occupant's of the castle did not hear what this man had done; the Elderly Gentleman looked at the shackled man as he kept his head casted down; the answer was the man didn't want them to.

"Mr. Naruto, our agreement concerning your mission was for no casualties; I would like you to explain why you would disregard and breach our agreement?"

Naruto's body shifted from his shoulders sagging, his eyes not wanting to catch another's eyes, and his ragged breathing, to his posture straightening and his breathing leveling off. Naruto lifted his head and as it did his hair parted away from his eyes and for a small moment, the Elderly Gentleman shuddered, this was because, Naruto's eyes seemed to have sharpen, the muscles around his eye's tightened, his eyes reflected the overwhelming determination Naruto was emitting.

"I apologies All-King for my breach of our agreement, however I previously made a person a promise, and that man behind you… forced me to respond with a violent retaliation, this was because that man was going to cause a breach of trust between the person, mention previously, and myself, and that would have resulted in a broken promise… and once I give my word I never go back on it, that is my way of life."

That cold determination and confidence was not a natural phenomenon with our hero, but past experience has tempered his resolve and made him a better person then he was previously…

xxXXxx

Path of Reinvention Arc

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3 Months Before

xxXXxx

Rambling, a particular manner of speech, that if a victim is exposed to it for a long period of time will imbalance ones frustration threshold. Currently Sarutobi Hiruzen was on the victim and the perpetrator, an old friend. The old friend seemed to find it necessary to pace around the room repeatedly, pacing mind you, on his hand maid, mermaid crafted, throw rug, that was situated on his mineral rich wood floors, teak it was called, Sarutobi's office was small but it was designed for amplified acoustics, so even a pin dropping could be easily hear at his strategic vantage point, the spot where all sound returned to him, this was designed for those that wish to whisper info, so Sarutobi could not hear, but it was now being used against him, by his friends incessant rambling.

The room was fitted with parallel book cases that went from one end to the other end of the room, the book cases started near the giant bay windows and ended near the massive mahogany, hand crafted doors; it was these parallel cases that Sarutobi's friend was pacing in-between. Hiruzen feared that Tazuna's rambling would soon garner a physical reaction, maybe he could crush the man with the giant bookcases, that thought however would cause damage to his…precious globe that was a few feet from the rambling man, a globe that was bisected by a landmass, and the quartered by a stretch of something that looked like a river cutting through it. Tazuna's rambling seemed to start to have a physical reaction, and he began reaching for Sarutobi's globe.

"TAZUNA!" Sarutobi's voice was rushed and sounded worried.

Tazuna halted his hand and looked back at his friend, Hiruzen seemed to have a kind smile, but even that was strained it seemed, Tazuna could see that Hiruzen was containing his frustration, and it looked like he was losing that battle, when his friend's eyes cut straight to a chair, Tazuna was quick to speed over to the chair.

"Now regardless of how well a politician I am, even I couldn't understand a damn thing you said, would you like to try again…with a more sedated pace?" Sarutobi may have stated like a question but it was a demand.

Tazuna relaxed himself with much force, knowing Hiruzen's current demeanor.

"You failed to mention Naruto's entire condition, that man that I saw… that is not Naruto, that is not the same person that arrived with you all those years ago, when you started the company…no that….that's his body, but that is not the same soul. Naruto would never have let me leave with that slip up, no, he just let me walk away, I came specifically for Naruto's involvement, and there in front of me, is a broken soul…tell me Hiruzen…WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

"Now, normally a man in his right mind, would know better to yell at a man that has been the military service for a half a century, a man that could kill you, hide your body, and no one would ever knew you existed. Though that was said, Hiruzen felt that his friend was correct in his anger, however you could only fix if you knew what was wrong.

"Naruto is showing all the symptoms to Survivor's Guilt, Survivor's Guilt is a mental condition that occurs when a person perceives that they have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event, while other have not, it has many disabling effects; overwhelming the person's ability to cope, making the person re-experience the event through flashbacks, nightmare, or daydreams, avoidance of any stimuli associated with the trauma, insomnia, even acute hyper-vigilance, this is enhanced sensory sensitivity, intensifying paranoia, and suspicion. Biwako concluded this when she studied Naruto's patterns. Currently it seems that Naruto's guilt has stabilized, but as it is now, neither Biwako nor I can discern the trigger of these attacks, this makes Naruto a large liability to you and anyone that should associate themselves with Naruto. Talking or remembering, what had happened seems to place him in a state of environmental displacement, which is a risk however I am not willing to afford."

Tazuna's mood worsened after hearing Biwako's prognosis, when Biwako gave her final observation, it was never wrong, even though Tazuna could hardly understand half of what was said, the message was clear, if you take Naruto, you will die.

"But what of Gato?"

Tazuna's watched Hiruzen's face shift to that of disgust and as Hiruzen calmed himself.

"At the moment you are not a threat to Gato, if, at any reason, Gato considered you a threat, he would hire mercenaries and track you down to kill you. For legal reasons, the board and I have concealed our involvement with the shipping company and for all intents purposes you were the owner of the company, a company you released to Kaiza upon your retirement. Gato believes he is in ownership of the company."

Tazuna felt a wave of relief when he heard this, but that feeling dissipated, when the doors, those beautiful hard-crafted doors, which depicted an old battle fought, ripped themselves from their hinges caused by an enormous external force, and seemingly sailed over the two men, disrupting their conversation, and crashing through the giant bay window. The two men gaped at the destruction, until a voice captivated the two, both feeling individual emotions.

"That is not proper to leave out information, granddad."

Both of the men's breathing seemed to hitch, when the owner of the voice walked through the entrance of the room with his head down, they notice that the man's blonde hair, almost fur like, had been trimmed down and washed, the hair was pulled tight into a ponytail, that was five inches from the base to the tip, the hair was being held back by an orange hair tie, and even though it was pulled extremely tight, bangs, about an inch in length, fell from his widow's peak. His former mangy beard was shaved back, but you could see a shadow of hair breaking through the skin; all showing skin marred no dirt, grime or blood. The two men watched as the blonde adjusted, what appeared to be gauntlets, to fit securely; the gauntlets' main base was made from rawhide leather, that was dyed black, fastened to the leather by metal rivets was metal, that contort to the shape of exterior of his forearm, the simple shuffles of his arms showed that the metal and the leather moved dependently of each other and was no hindrance of movement. The metal itself was not a just a long piece of metal, the metal was actually three pieces, the longest piece was positioned at the elbow and it overlapped the second piece, which overlapped the last piece near the wrist, at the wrist, the last piece was overlapped at the front by a metal that was fasten to the back hand of a glove, the glove was the same material as the leather around the forearm, the glove however was cut at the fingers, and each knuckled was capped with a stone head of some sorts; from their position the men couldn't even identify the stone's type, the thing that made the gauntlet stand out, was the metal clasps that seemed to be made to hold an attachment of some sorts. Underneath the gauntlet was a long sleeve white dress shirt, which looked to be tailored made, seeing how it hugged the blonde's arms, showing the smallest of the arms definition, over the shirt was a waist coat vest, it was colored of a orange metal, that had stayed to long in the rain and had rusted, the vest has a repetitive pattern of miniature dimpled diamonds, this portion of the vest was tailored for the anterior of the vest, but as soon as it reached the posterior it was stitched to a sheen black material, on the anterior of the vest were two pockets position mid chest near the oblique's, the vest was tailored to conform to the blondes upper chest. The collar of the white shirt was button to the top near the blonde's neck, and tied under the collar was a simple black tie, which was placed under the vest. The pants of the ensemble were black in color and seemed to be made of a tougher material the that of the shirt and vest, it was pleated in design and cuffed at the ankle, on the blonde's feet were wing tipped dress attired shoes which had a metal plate fastened to the tip.

When the men were finished taking in the appearance of the blonde, he brought his head up and the men noticed the last accessory, it was squared framed glasses that were about the size of his eyes and they were gold plated. The prescription of the glasses seemed to enhance the eyes significantly.

Hiruzen seemed to be the most affected by Naruto's current appearance, but he was the first to overcome his reaction.

"Before we get to your asinine interjection, would you explain why whenever you or my other subordinates feel the need to make a dramatic entrance, MY PROPERTY IS ALWAYS DAMANGED OR DESTROYED AT THE COST OF YOUR DESTRUCTIVE SHOWBOATING!"

The blonde seemingly stops and looks at Hiruzen with confusion etched on his face, this however confused Hiruzen.

"What damage?" The question was asked with calm clarity.

Both Hiruzen and Tazuna turn to the bay windows behind them, that the doors flew through, destroying them, only to find that the window was perfectly fine, no glass was found on the floor, or any damage to the foliage outside, there was nothing what so ever.

"That can't be… we saw the doors fly out the window." Tazuna said with a twitch in his left eye.

The two couldn't take their eyes off the window, fearing that if they did, that the window would return to its previous destroyed state.

"What the hell are you two talking about!... The doors are still attached to their hinges."

The two men's head turned so quickly, that the blonde swore he heard muscle tendons strain.

Both eyes took in the area in front of them, there they were, the doors, the doors that they saw exit the room via window. In matter of moments Tazuna sprinted from his seat and to the doors and began to touch them, caress it even. This was the scene that both Hiruzen and Naruto watched with rapt attention.

Hiruzen looked fondly at Naruto, he was happy to see the charismatic little shit that was his grandson. However it soon turned awkward, seeing how Tazuna was still caressing the door, in complete awe like a deity was in front of him.

Now being the man, Hiruzen, was, a man that carried his problematic moniker, he was always in a constant state of awareness; he knew that he was feeling mischief coming from his grandson, and usually when that feeling was around, that lead to someone being embarrassed.

"Tazuna, I think you should take the door on a date before you sand the door down, with the way you are dry humping it."

Tazuna halted his physical investigation, seeing as his face was burning with embarrassment. Tazuna moved away from the doors and took his time to collect himself before he walked back to his seat, which was parallel to Naruto's; when Tazuna was close enough his hand lashed out and struck Naruto in the back of his head.

Naruto chuckled at the physical reaction that Tazuna gave him, Naruto rubbed at his fresh injury and as he did, his grandfather watched him closely.

This man in front of Hiruzen was indeed his grandson. Naruto's actions held and conveyed no fabrication of truth, his demeanor and feelings wasn't some ploy or attempt to show Hiruzen he was okay, the boy that asked for that favor nearly 30 hours ago, was not present. No the person before him appeared to be that young boy that he saw before a new mentor came and took him. That being said however, Hiruzen did not see was the same Naruto that was present when the boy was six, it appeared that the events that resulted to his return to his home, had harden him and diluted and sullied his pure innocence. Hiruzen felt pain that his grandson was tainted in such a way, but that was for another time, it was however time to find the reasoning for his comment before he pulled his prank.

"As much as I appreciate this show of your mental and personality restoration, but you have stated, implying on the fact that I was incorrect?"

Naruto's eyes slowly panned to his grandfather, and what Hiruzen found was a gaze filled with a non-quavering conviction.

"I have discovered that recently Gato Inc. has been providing their services to other seas, at a fraction of the local competitors. With this much exposure will lead to public notice and interest with this convenient service, due to the recent intrusion in the other seas, Gato Inc. has been responsible for the bankruptcy of his shipping competitors which has resulted in Gato Inc. creating a monopoly in the shipping industry. This development has led me to believe that Gato has become dedicated to take Gato Inc. public and rake in the money that will come from the public buy in."

Hiruzen's brow lifted conveying his interest in this information.

'_It seems that my grandson has been busy_.'

Tazuna, on the other hand, was lost; his aptitude was on boats and shipping, not on the business behind it sadly.

"Yeah…yeah…that is all good and all but what does any of that actually mean?"

Tazuna knew that he was being left out of something; this was because he could tell that Hiruzen and Naruto seemed to be having their own conversation within a conversation.

"It means Tazuna…when Gato discovers that all he obtained from his hostile take over was a glorified operation manager position, he is going to seek for the controlling interest of the company, he is going to find that you never had any, all he is going to find is that 2% that you turned over to Kaiza when you gave Kaiza the Presidents position, if he has acquired anyone that understands business and it facets, he will learn that the controlling interests in the company are controlled by a board of directors, that has done their most expensive and extensive scrubbing all knowledge of their involvement…he will become upset and will develop an overwhelming desire to find you to learn the truth."

Tazuna listened intensely as Hiruzen spoke, Tazuna felt gratitude that Hiruzen withheld the business jargon, but what he learned resulted in a sudden weight developing in his gut.

"SO ANSWER MY QUESTION…WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT!"

Hiruzen felt his annoying conscious prod his mind. Tazuna would eventually connect two and two together, the knowledge that Tazuna had was worth more to Gato then anything else, to get it Gato would resort to dangerous conduct, involving immediate danger to Tazuna's family.

"We have to wait Tazuna, because traumatic events, like the repetitive ones that Naruto has experienced, have long lasting effects, I cannot risk your lives on the possibility that Gato has concluded and discovered the information he is missing."

Tazuna's gut weight intensified tremendously shortly after Hiruzen spoke, Tazuna knew that the chances of him persuading Hiruzen once his min was set, would be and exaggerated uphill battle, the only person that would change his mind was sitting right beside him, who seemed to have a coy smile, it was as if he had just won something.

"Gato has discretely sent out feelers for reputable mercenaries, he wouldn't risk using one of the Elemental Mercenary groups, that explains why you haven't heard anything, however a former one is fair game, my contact has confirmed that he has confirmed that he has contracted one for the job, what the aspects of that job is, is unknown currently. First and foremost I am dedicated to resolving this for Tazuna, with or without your backing, it would however, be easier and cost effective."

Hiruzen immediately saw the play that Naruto just initiated, and knew that the boy could be crafty, but Naruto neglected to remember that he shouldn't con a con man.

"I will take your involvement with my backing into consideration, if you are able to complete a trial of sorts."

Naruto felt the impending doom that came with that request, Naruto knew that he was risking a lot by playing a confidence game on his granddad but he never envisioned the man would see through it so clearly, and hit him with an unknown ultimatum.

"Tazuna's life is dependent on you succeeding, and with my analyses, you are lacking. Your confidence has been damaged, and that is what is needed to succeed, so you will do this… I have a mission of sorts that needs completion, how this mission is to be completed? I don't care as long as it is done. The completion of this trial needs to be satisfactory to me…and if for any reason you are to fail…"

Naruto's mind was flashing through the possible repercussions of his failure and what it could mean to his future.

"I will dissolve your immunity that is granted to you, from my retirement and ban you from ever entering any of the Sarutobi properties."

Naruto faltered after his granddad spoke, that immunity…

'…_that would…why would he think that he would be something that I would bargain, I would die, what type of depraved man would do something like that…if I fail all my dreams are gone, I will never achieve my dream… but is it that simple? Would he make me choose, so he could see my reaction, and what I would choose?'_

Naruto looked at his granddad, his face was chiseled into one of absolute finality, but when Naruto looked deeper, it was his granddad's eyes that betrayed his face.

His granddad was concerned…enormously concerned, it has been awhile since Naruto saw that on a person, but his granddad wasn't just concerned about Naruto, he was concerned for Naruto's sanity.

Naruto knew that he had developed a bad habit of blazing through things without taking the necessary actions, but it was this time that everything would be different, Naruto had more at stake then the other times.

Hiruzen watched as his grandson's emotions seemed to bounce around within him, he knew that his ploy had a chance to go either way, Hiruzen felt that Naruto was not ready for what he wanted to embark on, and he knew that it depended on Naruto himself, Hiruzen however needed to be sure.

"I accept."

Hiruzen smiled at the conviction in Naruto's voice and seemingly sighed as he pulled on a handle attached to a drawer on his desk; Hiruzen pulled out a file and threw it at Naruto. As Naruto read the file, Hiruzen spoke.

"The trial is an investigation, one of the east blue monarchies has been assaulted with an assassination attempt, the extent of the attack and it victims have been withheld from us, your mission is to discover the culprits, capture, and release the involved to the local authorities."

Naruto read over the mission file and found it lacking on all pertinent information, the file only said really was the request and where the mission was to take place.

Tazuna on the other hand was indifferent with what was happening presently, it seemed that at any minute he could hear terrible news about his family, but he knew, instinctively, that with Naruto leading his request he wouldn't have to worry so much, but the real question that ravaged his mind was did he have the luxury to wait? At the moment he had no answer, but he knew Naruto, and he would have one soon,

Hiruzen asked the two to leave so they could be prepared when they left. That however was far from the truth, he, in fact, hated himself. All things happen for a reason, that is what his teachers used to tell him, but what do you say when you are the cause.

When the two left finally, Naruto looked back a mouthed "thank you" to his granddad, Hiruzen on the other hand felt that he was not deserving of that salutation, his thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of his beloved wife, however her emotional stat conveyed pain and sorrow, Hiruzen quickly scanned her person and found the object, the perpetrator of her emotions; cradled in one arm was a scroll with his former employer's seal, its gloss, reflecting the light and presenting itself to all to see.

Hiruzen beckoned Biwako to hurry and she complied, with haste. The scroll was light in his grasp; something that he felt was dubious seeing what the scroll normally contained.

Hiruzen broke the seal binding the scroll and scanned its contents, in moments his world felt as though it was crumbling.

"They have made a formal request from me, about all information pertaining to Naruto's present physical and mental condition, current whereabouts and his estimated…arrival to Reverse Mountain."

Hiruzen felt the sting of betrayal coursing through his body.

"My continued and satisfactory service on the matter of the criminal "Sarutobi D. Naruto" is highly appreciated and an immediate reply is mandatory."

Biwako watched her beloved husband shake with remorse and self-loathing, Biwako could tell that the manner of speech used, the person requesting the information was quite prepared for this type of coercion.

She was taken aback when she saw her husband shake with sobs and his cries shattered in remaining façade of strength.

"How would my sensei feel that I am forsaking one family member for the continued existence for others…?"

For once Biwako felt in this moment that no one, neither man nor woman was strong enough to deal with being the immediate cause of a person's repeated emotional destruction and resulted mental anguish.

xxXXxxXXxx

Naruto watched over the side of the boat as it set sailed for their desired destination. It would take them three days time to arrive there, but Naruto knew that for some reason Dawn Island would be the beginning of his quested dream. He knew that it would be different this time, that he would succeed this time, he promised himself as he looked towards the horizon.

xxXXxxENDxxXXxx

The wait is over, thanks to those that read this story and place it on their story alert, that means much to me that people find this story worth reading, now I make no excuses to the updating time, I write when I write, if you don't like it too bad, your still going to read this. Now announcement, the next chapter will not have the Dawn Island adventure, just the result of the events happened during, this is because for the longest time I have been trying to show Naruto vulnerability, but it is hard, it is either too much or not enough, so I have decided to for go it all together, you will see the member that he is going to pick up, and the results of his investigation but from then on there it is the Gato clean up.

Thanks for reading.


	4. Path of Reinvention Arc: Conviction

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece. Naruto and One Piece are own by Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda respectively.

xManner of Speechx

"Speaking" Regular Talking

"_Speaking_" Hushed speaking

'_Speaking_' Thinking

**SPEAKING**Techniques and Akuma no Mi techniques

"…" Long pauses, prolonged laughter, or coughing

xxXXxxXXxx

Path of Reinvention Arc: Conviction

xxXXxxXXxx

Naruto's eyes unwaivered as he stared at the All-King's. Those that were in attendance have never seen someone with such unflinching certainty of their words. However it was those words that made the All-King question Naruto himself.

"You made a promise to someone that you would kill?"

Naruto sighed and slapped his head a couple of times with his shackled hands, and grunted at the last one.

"Ahh, to hard… no I promised a gentleman, a gentleman that is in the employ of the man in the adjacent cell, that I would not let anyone kill him. I was following that man after I became suspicious when not one of the people in the Military sector remember ever seeing him or meeting him, but your son appointed him to a vaulted position. So when I learned that Randolph's family was attacked before the attempts even happened it confirmed that your son either had a hand or lead the attacks, I followed him, I followed him to these holding cells, where he admitted that he and your son have conspired to thin the potential heir line and make your son the next in line of the throne."

The cell's atmosphere radically changed in matter of moments, the person responsible was the All-King, when the guards looked at their supreme ruler they expected to see doubt; however what they saw was remorse and guilt.

"I am to suspect that you have evidence of your conclusion of your investigation?"

All Naruto did was nod, and stood and opened his hand to show a piece of paper.

"In the possibility that I was discovered, I gave all my findings to that person on the paper. Note that the person that has the information is a criminal themselves, so be sure to look for that marking next to each piece of evidence, if it is not there then the person doctored my findings, but I trust the person has done nothing of the sorts."

The All-King nodded and gestured the nearby guard to release Naruto once that was done, the King ordered everyone to leave.

"I will return once we have acquired your findings."

Naruto just nodded in agreement and watched the guards walk away. Naruto knew that they would find everything to be the truth, the son Randolph seemed to have his hand in large quantity of dirty things. Naruto sighed as he let his head rest on the cool, stone wall of his cell, the door was open but Naruto didn't feel like leaving at the moment. Naruto began running through everything that had happened.

In the beginning Naruto arrived with Tazuna to the small village at the tip of the island, Foosha Village, he felt that everything was going well but he did not think of to gather Intel on the course of actions previously on the island, if he didn't neglect that, he would have known that the villagers of the village had a large hate for the nobles of the Kingdom. Yet he neglected it, he went to the mayor of the village, Woop Slap, Naruto suspected that the mayor would not have been as helpful as he was, and Naruto suspicions were correct. The mayor had sent Naruto to his death, at the hands of the Dadan Mountain Bandits.

Naruto however was never in any danger because, as soon as it became apparent that he was in danger, Naruto began to slowly make his plan of escape. During his planning the leader of the Dadan Mountain Pirates had arrived, Curly Dadan, however Naruto's planning was for naught, when Dadan realized that their captive was a dangerous individual, it seems that Naruto well place choice of words had convinced Dadan of the danger she and her boys were in, it also helped when Naruto broke his bindings and held a dagger, he had retrieved from the tip of his shoes to a member's throat. The events after that descalated after, and Naruto were able to inform Dadan of his purpose on the island and the reason he asked for the mayor's aid. Naruto's grandfather, whom Naruto had taken to calling him his employer for reason Naruto didn't mention, was not allowed to have the geographic of an area, only those of his home and that he needed a guide to take him to Goa City, where his investigation was. Naruto was able to convince Dadan to have one of the member's of her family, to guide him.

What Naruto did not expect was that Dadan herself would take him; Dadan's explanation was that her boys were wanted men, but even though she herself was wanted she had the pull, to get away from others. Naruto had accepted this and let Dadan guide him. It was during this time that Naruto began to be afflicted with headaches; Naruto would begin to relieve his tragic moments, those moments were when the cannonballs were beginning to rip the ship apart. Those moments however did not play that long because, that little red headed boy kept appearing right before the cannonballs tore everything asunder. Naruto tried to speak but found he couldn't. The boy said that his time to speak was not now, but it was a time to look and listen; the boy went along and walked by every single member of his past crew, and would ask what was it that made them so special that Naruto chose them. The boy never really gave Naruto a chance to answer and answered himself. The boy started talking about science, the science that Naruto loved so much, and told him that the reason why the names of these people never seemed to get pass the tip of his tongue, or how the people in front of him at this moment, he couldn't remember their face, was because he and the dead crewmate, like atoms had no bond, nothing kept them together or could.

Towards the end all the boy said was that, to truly to forgive himself and to become whole again he had to remember one thing, that regardless that he didn't protect them, Naruto was not at fault, his past crewmates chose to sail with Naruto, it was just Naruto couldn't find that bond that would have given Naruto that extra push, to dive in front, and that Naruto would find it once more, and that the little boy believed in him.

Naruto remembered that Dadan had awoken him from his faze, and told him that they had arrived at the Grey Terminal. Naruto then remembered the absolute horror that he witness next, Naruto noticed that within the Terminal were people, real life people, and from what Naruto could smell, was that the Grey Terminal was a stretch of land that was made up of garbage and rubbage, when Naruto asked what was in front of him, all Dadan could say was that the Grey Terminal was the result of the nobles throwing their trash and unwanted things away, Dadan also mentioned how there was a Grey Terminal before but the nobles had burned it down, the reason being was that a Tenryubito was arriving to Goa and the noble did not want the blight of the Grey Terminal to offend the Word Noble . Naruto however noticed that Dadan became upset at the mention of the Tenryubito, as shocked and appalled as Naruto was something within him ached for him to help, not one person that Naruto seen had a smile upon their face, or content, these people were miserable. Naruto heard his voice when he promised himself that he would change and return to whom he was before, but it was that whisper of his dream that Naruto remembered. '_to bring everlasting peace…_', but Naruto remembered he questioned what was peace his was so desperately looking for and why was it important, but it was right here that Naruto remembered another part of his dream, _'to bring everlasting peace, to those that cannot achieve it…'_, Naruto felt that the dream itself was a wonderful ideal, but when he looked at these people he thought what was the peace they were wishing and hoping for.

Naruto knew that he had no right to encroach on these people's lives, but another part of him a part that he swore an oath to forced his hand. Naruto remembered he started to dig, and just dig, a plan already in place for what he needed and how to obtain it, he would start slow, the investigation could wait, their were people that were not at peace, these people, if they were to die right now, they would not say that they were at peace, and that is something that Naruto wanted to change. Naruto started the digging when they arrived at the east side of the Grey Terminal sometime in the morning and Naruto didn't stop until it was sometime in the middle of the night, sometime around the sun was setting. As soon as Naruto was done, when he returned to the surface he noticed that his plan had brought bystanders, obviously because of curiosity, just like Naruto planned. When an elderly woman asked what Naruto had done, he had told them that he had created a place where the smell of the Terminal could not reach those that were underground, when asked why, Naruto just said that no appreciates a nasty smell when their sleeping, when the woman finished hearing this she was the first to ask Naruto if she could go down in the underground cavern. All Naruto said was that it was opened for all.

Some of the people in the audience had taken Naruto up on his offer and traveled down, there were others that went back to the Terminal, but Naruto did not fault them, it must have felt to easy for them, and Naruto understood their suspicion, but Naruto did not quit. With the excess ground around Naruto created a wall and ceiling, it was shaped in a pyramid but it was missing one side, Dadan asked what the wall was for and Naruto told her that there was only enough fresh air underground to last the people down there for one whole day, and Naruto needed a lot of fresh air with what he was planning, when asked what, Naruto just said nothing that will hurt the people underground. Naruto left the area however and traveled down the circumference of Grey Terminal and seemingly did the same thing. It would be three days before Naruto returned, when asked what Naruto had done, all he said was that he did the exact same thing; Naruto said that he had made identical caverns all the way to the mountains where G.T. stopped and that he was getting ready to go fishing.

Naruto returned sometime later with a gigantic net filled with fish, and by gigantic net that meant a net the size of Foosha village, Naruto asked Dadan for her help and they traveled all along the coast of G.T. delivering fish to those underground and even those aboveground. Naruto told Dadan that he is providing the people with an alternative to their current lifestyle, and if they wanted to change it they were more then welcomed, but if not Naruto would still provide the same service he did to those that did not want his generosity. Naruto kept at this for two weeks, and when everything changed was when Naruto was asked to help with the sick. It was here that Naruto had informed Dadan of his former profession, as a doctor. Once the people of Grey Terminal had learned that Naruto was a doctor and he was taking care of the sick an injured, nearly all those that could make it came to Naruto. Naruto had quarantine the diseased from the others and made sure to instruct those that had volunteered their help on proper practices on how to help.

This however did not last as long as it should, it time medical supplies that Naruto had found and sterilized himself had become scarce and Naruto was in need of locating supplies. Dadan told Naruto that the village had a medical facility that could possibly spare some supplies and that Dadan would look into her contacts inside Goa to get some too. Naruto remembered however this was the time that he had met someone that may have had a great purpose, but at their current point would not amount to it. Dadan had brought someone that she had called her son, at one point, he introduced himself as Luffy. At first Luffy just watched while Naruto, Dadan and the others did what they did, Naruto even appreciated when Luffy took it upon himself to entertain those that didn't feel quite well. Naruto felt that this boy in front of him was as simple as can be, when he said things, they never had another meaning, his thoughts were simple, he was simple, this vaguely reminded Naruto of a previous teacher, but that couldn't be. It wasn't until Luffy questioned Naruto on his reason for going so far to help these people. Naruto explained to Luffy that these people were in a need of help and that Naruto had the skills and the ability to help them and that he would do it regardless. However it was when Luffy called the people of Grey Terminal weak, is when Naruto felt something in him shifted and change, when Naruto asked why, Luffy said that all these people have something that they treasure, and that they were weak because they needed help to protect their treasured things.

Dadan scolded Luffy for what he said, and by scolded that meant hit him over the head with her club. However Luffy didn't see what he said was wrong, not before Naruto looked at him with strange eyes. Naruto went and asked Luffy what was his dream. When Luffy stated that he would be Pirate King, Naruto laughed. Luffy became angered and was about to charge, but Naruto's next words seemingly changed Luffy. Naruto expressed that he himself had met the Pirate King, and that the Pirate King will always be the Pirate King, Naruto states that no one has ever came close to being the king. Luffy interrupts and says that he would become the King, but Naruto declines and says that the true mark of being the king was not One Piece, the legendary treasure, Naruto says that acquirement of the treasure marked you as having the power of a pirate king but it was what made Gol D. Roger the king, it was his care of others, he tells Luffy that in the last moments of his death, Gol did not care of his impending doom, just that the people he cared for were cared for and protected. And to call someone weak for caring for another and finding them the care they need, did not make them weak, it made them more closer to becoming the Pirate King then Luffy. Naruto then began to strip himself of his clothes on his chest and the shoes on his feet. Naruto before leaving, that Luffy was not allowed around the caverns while Naruto was around and if he was he punish Luffy and kill him.

Naruto remembered that when they had finally entered the city, that Luffy had not spoken for nine days, and when he finally did he said that he wanted to know how he could help those people on the cavern protect their treasure.

Naruto had ran all the way to the village, but it was during the trip itself that Naruto pondered on during his trip the boy had returned again, but this time Naruto was able to keep himself grounded in reality. The boy began questioning Naruto's purpose for doing this, this didn't help him get closer to the Grand Line and that nobody here would help him complete what he set out to do, the boy asked what Naruto could possibly gain from this, Naruto response was why did he have to gain anything from this, why couldn't he just go out of his way to help those that couldn't or wouldn't help themselves, he says that he was just doing this because he felt that he needed to and that he should listen to his gut. When the boy confirmed that Naruto was correct, this still confused Naruto, but it was the fact that he was listening to his heart and his heart was guiding him, somehow during his trip he had not listened to his own intuition and just did what he perceived was right. Naruto had somehow convinced the people of the village to help and he also talked Tazuna into returning to his grandfather's island and obtaining more medical supplies.

When Naruto returned to his sight, he had gotten to work as quickly as he could. By mid day in the next two days, Naruto was able to meet with all the people that had medical problems and medical concerns. However it became apparent to Naruto that they had to deal with the root of the cause, and that was the Grey Terminal. Naruto took it upon himself to ask those that lived in the Grey Terminal what they should do to the Grey Terminal. Some suggested that they the do the same thing that the Nobles did about ten years ago and burn it down, the majority of the people agreed until Naruto informed them that the burning of the Terminal would release the diseases that he had just cured them of and make them even worse. However it was the idea of Dadan that became the plan. Instead of burning, they should clean the Terminal up, and separate the things that were causing the problems and then destroy the diseased. Naruto felt the idea needed to be fleshed out and he approved the cleaning, but he also stated that the nobles of the city seemed to have expensive tastes and that the people of the world would buy anything that a Noble once had, the idea came from a small child that had taken upon himself to separate the wasted materials. Naruto saw this and thought of a recycle processing plant. When asked to further his idea, Naruto stated that on top of the items that were in the Terminal there were metals and plastic and precious resources that can be melted down and then resold to the city and even to other islands. Naruto began thinking about the money involved and he was not surprised that this venturing enterprise he was thinking of would cost a pretty penny, but Naruto knew it was needed, people obtained peace when they didn't have to rely on the handout of others and could obtain their own peace, Naruto informed the populace of the Terminal that they would embark on this idea and that he would fund them, when they vehemently disagreed Naruto just told them that he would, it would be the last thing he did to help them, and that they would never have to repay him back. They agreed.

Naruto's plan was a three step plan; the people would clean up the Terminal, and they would be paid, by him. After the separated the items they would then build the processing plant to break the items down more, and then they would sell the finished product, while still being paid, once the company started to fund its own money, Naruto would stay as the owner and someone would run its day to day operation. Naruto however could not decide who. During the clean up Naruto finally continued his journey to Goa, Dadan was following and leading the entire way. When the duo appeared at the land entrance to the of Goa, they were stopped by the guards and told that all unknown people were to be detained, there had been an assassination attempt on the Three Kings and all people entering Goa were being detained. This however was not to be true for long seeing how Dadan took the two to another part while sweet talking them, after a couple minutes the trio came back and the guards looked noticeably traumatized, Naruto knew that it was better not to ask and left it alone, Dadan had taken him to the castle of the All-King, so he might inform him of his arrival and the start of his investigation. When the duo arrived, it seemed that the All-King was in a meeting with his sons, the Three Kings; Naruto knew that at the moment it would be a lot harder to get complete honest answers from the people he was investigating. Naruto held an audience with the four in attendance and told them that he was sent by Sarutobi Hiruzen and that he would start his investigation, he told them that he wanted to speak to the households in due time, but he wanted to learn information on the ones that attempted the assassinations, when one of the brothers offered his guards reports on the rebels, Naruto declined, saying that the guards are sanction to protect the populace so their opinions and reports on "facts" would hold small about of deception. Naruto thanked the brother and asked for his name, Randolph it was.

Naruto left the castle and began traversing with Dadan around the city, first arriving at the scene of each crime and began talking to the citizens, some held that they had seen the culprits but when Naruto pressed on the truth they spoke of, Naruto learned that his arrival was foretold to the people and that they wanted to get in good graces with the investigator of the feared Ruler of the East Blue. Naruto knew that this would make finding witness and even informants harder. Naruto arrived at the port to talk to some of the merchants to see if they knew of any information, some had, but others didn't want to have any part of the investigation. When Naruto heard that he knew these people had what he needed. Naruto however also knew that these people held a place at this port only at the approval of one of the Three Kings. Naruto decided that he would leave the adults alone. Naruto then started looking for those that always had loose lips. Naruto found a play yard and found what he needed. Children always had more information then they knew, but they couldn't understand it. Naruto had found one child that was by himself and sat next to him on the ground. Naruto asked him why he was all alone, and the kid told him that his family was richer then the kids here and that the kids he wanted to play with didn't want to play with someone that was higher on the social class then them. Naruto was sad that even children of high class were afflicted with segregation. Naruto felt a similar pain waft through his own memories and told the boy he would play with him if he wanted to. The boy agreed. They would play games the boy would want. The boy said that it was fun and that he felt like he was playing with his older brother. Naruto smiled at that but when Naruto looked up he visibly frowned, the boy saw this and turned around and smiled and ran towards the person that caused Naruto reaction. When Naruto heard the word father Naruto knew that he wasn't going to get any information. The person was one of the Three Kings, if he remembered correctly this man was William, the oldest brother and the King in charge of the port.

William spoke to his son and asked him to go somewhere else. Naruto looked at the gold mine of information walk away, but knew that parents were very protective of their children. William told Naruto that his son being the son of the king was a hard life for the boy. William then told Naruto something he didn't expect. He told Naruto that the night that the assassins came about three months ago, they waited. Naruto heard this and was confused. William told Naruto that the assassin talked to his son and told him that he didn't want to do this but his hand was being forced, and when the time came to do it, they made a lot of noise to get the guards to come and even told his son that he wanted him to scream when he started to do this, like a game. Naruto listen but felt no deception. Naruto asked why tell him all this and William told him, that of all of his siblings he didn't want to be King, oh sure he has been taught what a king was and when he was younger he wanted, but he told Naruto that his wife died from a disease she had contracted from the Terminal, because she wanted to clean the place up, and that his oldest had died in the fire in from the last terminal, he didn't want to place his son in that danger and that he rather man the port like he had done for the last 15 years then become king, heirs of the throne never have friends, the friends they normally have are forced by the parents for prestige. Naruto felt the pain coming from the man's voice.

William then tells Naruto that he fears for his son's life and that someone will try again, when Naruto asks why, William tells Naruto that the brothers have hired the rebels before to help them in what they needed, strong-arming non-paying renters, increasing the effectiveness of the guards, or spearheading the rejuvenating of their sectors, when William learned that the person that came was a rebel, he knew that one of his brother was the culprit, but the reason he didn't understand. Naruto took all the information down and asked where the rebels were stationed; William told Naruto that it was in the sector of the land entrance, the sector that was considered the poorest. Naruto thanked William and began to walk away, however a spark of suspicion welled in Naruto. Naruto asked where Curly Dadan would go when she came into the city. William visibly paled and began to look around, when he felt that the coast was clear he walked closer to Naruto. He told Naruto that Dadan never ventured farther then the sector mentioned before.

Naruto had no idea what had sparked that but it seemed that it was a great spark, Dadan was a criminal and for her to know the lay of land as well as she did, now knowing that Dadan never ventured farther then the sector, Naruto felt he needed to confirm this.

Naruto began his trek back to the castle of the All-King, he would knew the entire truth, and seeing how he was the king longer then Dadan was alive then he would know the truth of his son's admission. When Naruto arrived, he heard the yelling of the All-King to one of his son's it seemed that the son was informing his father that the leader of the rebels would not have a hand in these attempts and that his attempt to locate said man had become impossible and that the members have become to scared to speak with him. The All-King yelled at his son that his connection with the leader would point the suspicion on him and that if Naruto knew then, he would become the prime suspect. Naruto took this moment to voice his opinion. They were both frightened that the investigator had overheard them but Naruto bashed that away by informing them that Naruto was suspicious everyone that was involved, and that only the truth and evidence would change that. The admission that the brother said that they all had used the rebels before had led Naruto into believing that one of the brother's were responsible but he needed to learn of the motive. Naruto asked the All-King that if one of his son's were the culprits what the reason would be. The All-King sighed and looked at Naruto drearily, he informed Naruto that in a years time that he would pick his successor for the throne, he states that he gave his son's three years to show him that they had what it took and what it meant to be a king, but he did not tell them what it was, this was a test to show their true character as a person and if their natural characteristics were what the All-King was looking for. Naruto nodded and jotted that down, Naruto however informed the All-King of William's decision.

The All-King confirmed that he already knew of his son's decision and that the true test was between his youngest, the son looked surprise of this admittance and found he was in shock. Naruto understood the effect of the revelation, but even though that conveyed a large amount of needed evidence he needed to confirm evidence. When Naruto finally asked if it was true that Dadan had never ventured farther then the Entrance sector, the two men visual quaked. The son confirmed that since his taking over the sector, Dadan had never ventured anywhere else, he said was because she didn't have to, the rebels use to work under her until she passed the reigns to someone else, Dadan knew that those that didn't have the same as others would work for her because of that similar criminal mentality. The All-King however stated that Dadan did travel during his sole reign of the city but when it became apparent that even the high social class had social status she became fix in one are and that was some 20 years ago. Naruto nodded and disappeared. When he was leaving, the son asked where he was going, and Naruto just said that he was going to go confirm something. Naruto traveled fast to the Entrance sector and began looking for the trail of Dadan, he was able to find it, but Naruto knew that Dadan was considered high in the area and that his looking for her would tip her off, Naruto decided that he had to look for Dadan by not looking for her. Naruto began to question the people about the leader of the rebels and what type of person he was; no one spoke before but when the mention of the leader they would deny his involvement in anything. Naruto would ask why they would say that, but they said that the leader had been missing for about four months and hadn't been seen since, they said that the leader was a very kind man, that would help those that need it find things, jobs, items, money and even food, he was generous all the time.

Naruto thanked ever person he talked to and found that the people were seeing one side but he needed to see the side that really matter, he needed to see the side of the rebel leader, when Naruto started asking for the location of the rebels, people that previously were open clamped up quickly, this made Naruto upset that these people would praise the leader but when it actually came time to learn more they would shut up. Naruto didn't exclaim this, but Naruto knew that he had to find these people if he wanted more evidence, Naruto arrived at a simple fountain and just sat there, his presence had alerted the rebels and his question had to, if the leader was indeed missing then his replacement would be a competent one and would send someone to watch him. Naruto sat on the lip of the fountain and appeared to be relaxing and thinking, but Naruto was actually reading the environment, Naruto remembered the training his grandfather gave him and told him that everyone had aura, an aura was mostly the energy the emotions gave off, his grandfather stated that normal emotions were a bane to all, and had the capability to have a hand in destroying the world, but it was because them as humans made them so strong, his grandfather said that they were conductors, and that when you knew what to look for you could read them like an open book, then soon you would develop and certain sense of those emotions and it resulting aura.

At that moment Naruto was sensing the people auras, each aura had characteristics, anger was chaotic and the aura would fluctuate and extreme levels, sadness would appear lifeless and would tick at odd moments, happiness would be a calm steady movement with spikes of fluctuation, from these three main emotions a person could branch and find the other, what Naruto was looking for right now was suspicion, this was branch from, sadness and anger, the reason why, not even Naruto's grandfather knew, but that was what he was looking for, he found it, but that was normal, everyone around him was suspicious, the suspicion aura was like focused anger and sadness, the anger would be at a steadier chaos, and it would still at moments, what Naruto was sensing was that everyone had it, but at a lower level, what Naruto was looking for was a higher level or none at all, Naruto started at one point of his radius and circled in, when Naruto sense waved over a group and one person in that group was highly suspicious then all the others, Naruto then felt the one thing that confirmed the suspicion that he was looking for.

Fear, when the person notice Naruto head turn towards them, their suspicion transformed into fear, their aura looked as though they were hyperventilating. The person left and Naruto stood up after nodding and waited, after a time he threw a coin into the water of the fountain and then walked in the direction of his suspect. Naruto still had his aura sense active and notice that the person had traveled a great distance away from him, but now the person was talking to another, it was then that the aura disappeared into a building and Naruto lost him, but Naruto was able to pin-point the building the man disappeared in, and when Naruto arrived, he could feel the bodies waiting behind the door. It seemed the people wanted to ambush him, and Naruto was not in the mood to fight, fighting lead to violence and violence lead to death and Naruto did not want to kill anyone, Naruto sighed and disappeared behind a corner, when the scouts on the outside notice this they went to that corner and found that it was a dead end, and there was no entrance in side the building. The people on the inside had become concerned that the scout confirmed Naruto's disappearance, when one of the rebels ran to a room, in the shadows Naruto appeared and walked into the room after him. Inside Naruto noticed that the person the grunt was talking to was none other then Dadan, Dadan saw Naruto and didn't seem surprised. Dadan laughs and hits the grunt that was in front of her. She tells Naruto that these rebels were adamant that she not say anything to him about her location and help them find their leader. She even tells all those that were in the room, they must have been something akin to second in commands, that if Naruto really wanted to he would have found her the second she disappeared, Naruto thanks Dadan of informing him that she had an errand and Dadan nods, Naruto however gets to work and ask Dadan of her involvement, Dadan doesn't make it a secret and tells Naruto that the rebels used to be her gang within the city, but the current leader had defeated her for her spot as leader, Naruto nodded however Dadan could tell that Naruto wasn't satisfied.

Naruto explains that if he would have came here first he would have believed her, but after one of the Three Kings confirmed that Dadan had given the leader the rebels it proved moot that she was hiding something, Naruto then began to break apart her exclamation, Naruto states that with the doubt he was feeling from her words regarding the leader defeating her made Naruto suspect that the leader didn't defeat her but Dadan gave the leader the rebels, when asked why he thought that; it was there that Naruto motioned to one of the leaders, or lieutenant, he said that when the leader defeated her, the man chuckled at her disclosure, meaning he found what she said was funny, and seeing how this man showed the signs of leadership more then the others, means that this person has been here when Dadan was the leader. So that lead Naruto to believe that Dadan gave her seat away, Naruto then explains that it must be someone she knew personally and Naruto explained the reason why was that, normally people didn't comply to what others demanded of them if they had higher experience. It was also the fact that she showed signs of caring whenever the leader was mention concluded that. Dadan looked at that moment as though she open the damn flood gates for this typhoon. Naruto then begins to follow up on that the leader was someone she cares for. Naruto explains that his employer Sarutobi Hiruzen kept up to date Intel on all the criminals in his sea, and that he knew everything about them. Naruto admits that he did research on the island before coming, notably the people on the island. Naruto admits that he already knew of the Mayor, and the village people, but not the connection to Dadan, it wasn't until Luffy arrived did Naruto know the truth. Naruto remembered that one of Sarutobi's students lived on this island, a Monkey D. Garp, and that Luffy had many of the same characteristics that Garp had, and you aren't born with those, it comes when you are related to them, Naruto then guesses that Luffy is Garp's grandson, and one of the reason he despises the boy.

It is there that Naruto continues listing his knowledge. Naruto states the bounty on Dadan's head and the amount of crimes she committed as well as her member's but it was when Naruto started commenting on a boy that Garp was seen caring as a baby that Dadan made a physical reaction. Dadan rushed to Naruto intending to smash him with her club, but when the club came close enough to Naruto, Naruto reached out and stopped the club dead in its descent. Naruto seemingly crushes the club to saw dust at the point he had grabbed and pushed Dadan away. Naruto continues, stating that Dadan had been given a child of unknown origin and parentage, but named the boy Portagas D. Ace. From there Naruto describes Ace and Luffy, but it was when Naruto admits that Ace was detained by the guards and as well as the other two that were with him, does Dadan visibly shaken. It is here that Naruto describes the boy that was caught with Ace, and even furthers by announcing his name; Sabo.

It was here that the mood in the room changed, people felt anger and sadness, but Naruto knew when people were faking emotions. Naruto states that Sabo was the son of a highly notable Noble, but had disappeared for 6 years, Naruto also stated that Sabo somehow returned to his home, but two days later, during the Grey Terminal fire, he had disappeared again. It wasn't until a report came up that Naruto spoke again, Naruto says that Sabo had ventured out onto the sea to start his career, from what he screamed at the top of his lungs as he was leaving, but the arrival of the Tenryubito had ended that when Sabo and his vessel was fired upon, by the Tenryubito's ship. Naruto explains that Sabo's body was not found. Dadan began crying at the end of Naruto's spiel and the people in the room looked angry at Naruto, however Naruto continued. He says how Sabo's body not being found was impossible. Naruto notices Dadan's motions; Naruto states that himself and his ship had traversed those waters and found that the current was not going out to sea but inland, back towards the island, so that meant ten years ago when Sabo's body was fired upon, his body did wash up on the shore, around the area of Foosha Village, where Woopslap must have found him and told Dadan, and Dadan took him away. Dadan's anger sedated and she sighed, Dadan then confirms that Sabo is alive and that he is the leader of the rebels, Sabo had been nursed to health and had been informed that he would lead the rebels, but was forbidden to mention his name, for fear that his father will learn of his being alive and that Ace and Luffy would find out. Naruto wanted to explore more on that reason but he was stopped by one of the men in the room, the man told Naruto that Sabo had left 4 months ago to meet with the captain guard of the knights, but he never returned. The man tells Naruto that the rebels had been working with the knights so they can free their men in their Gaol, but when it became apparent that the knights were asking for more increasingly aggressive crimes, Sabo declined.

Naruto nods tells them that he will go learn more about this captain and begins to leave, however he is stopped by the same man and the man begins to beg to Naruto, Naruto tells him he doesn't' have to beg for anything, it is here that the man asks Naruto to promise that their leader doesn't die and Naruto protects him; Naruto states that they don't have evidence that their leader is alive, but if he is he will protect him. Naruto leaves and goes to the Military Sector; Naruto there begins asking the citizens who their Captain Guard of the Knights was. Naruto asks many people and gets the same answer, they don't know who their Captain Guard is, that the Guards leader appointed him, and even the other guards don't know who he is, they however point him out, when they notice him walking about. Naruto tails the captain to his final destination; it was the castle of one of the Three Kings, Randolph. Naruto follows the captain through the castle, the captain arrives in the study of the king and listens in, the captain states that the rebel captain is withholding the location of his rebels and would not speak, the king says that it doesn't matter, and that they have to find them before Naruto finds them. Randolph states that the captain is to kill the leader soon, and tells him that he fears that Naruto is getting closer to the truth. Naruto suspects that Randolph is the one that did this but he has to prove a timeline, but that means that he has to confirm when the attack happened. Naruto turned a corner and disappeared out of sight, moments later Naruto is outside, and turns the corner to the front door of the castle, Naruto asks the front guard to inform the king that he needs to conduct his investigation.

The guard rushes into the castle and minutes later he is told to enter. Naruto is informed that the king is in his study and that they would guide him, Naruto complies and lets them take him to the king, there Naruto notices that the captain has disappeared and the king is alone. Naruto tells the king that he needs to confirm the entry of the assassin and that he needs to talk to the guards on duty that night. Randolph confirms and guides him to room of his children; they were not there at the moment so he had all the time he needed. Naruto looked around the room and found nothing out of place; he even looked under rugs, behind amours and under beds. Nothing, for a castle this big and having nooks and crannies, the idea of nothing concerned him. Naruto was interrupted by the arrival of the guards; the king excused himself and walked away. Naruto asked the basic questions, who, what, when, where, but when it came the question of which one of the child's was first targeted, they couldn't decide which one was which, one of the guards even mention they thought that the assassin was found in the study apprehended by the king, Naruto seeing a hole admits that the guard was wrong and that he had the evidence that the kids were first, they looked surprised and confused. Naruto felt he had enough to prove guilt, but any guards can be confused and the emotions ran ramped that night, Naruto excused himself and said he would see himself out. When Naruto walked out of the castle he walked a few meter s and bumped into someone, Naruto apologies, but notices that it is one of the servants, Naruto smirking to himself asks what night did the assassin come into the castle, the servant confused and scolds the Naruto for not knowing, she tells him that the night was one month before the others and that if the investigator came asking to say when the other attempts happened. Naruto looked embarrassed and walked away, the servant must have confused him with another person, but what luck, he had the truth and now all he had to do was follow the captain.

Naruto waited until night, and was staking out the castle, when Naruto noticed that the captain had rushed out of the castle and to a gate next to the castle, he knew that, that they knew, he knew. Naruto followed, his absolutely no sound, the reason being was that he had dawn a sound dampener suit, which was all black. Naruto followed cautiously, the captain was afflicted with severe paranoia, and would look back constantly, it wasn't until he reached a room at the end of a long hallway, did the captain feel peaceful, Naruto watched him enter the room and Naruto soon followed after, Naruto watched behind a changing screen the conversation. The captive, Sabo looked horrible, it seemed he was beaten repeatedly, and tortured somewhat, Sabo made a joke how he should just stop because he was not going to disclose the location, but it was here that the captain showed his true intent, a pistol in his hand he pointed it at Sabo. The captain started stating how Sabo was an embarrassment and that he never should have resurfaced, that it was because of him that his and the king's plans, to make Randolph king, were falling apart and that they now had a investigator was here, he states that is Sabo would have just done his job none of this would have happened, but he sighs and tells Sabo that now, when he dies and he arrives in heaven, mother and father will actually love him now. Sabo's face showed extreme disgust after the captain says this. Sabo looked into the eyes of the captain and never closed them, as though he wanted to haunt the captain. Sabo watched as the man started to laugh and laugh as he pulled on the trigger, but it a small moment, he stopped, Sabo looked confused, the captain groaned and fell to the floor, Naruto watches Sabo's expression as he sees him, at the last moment, the captain pulls the trigger, but his aim was changed and he missed widely. It was moments later that guards came in and tackled Naruto to the ground, they placed shackles on Naruto and kicked him inside the cage, no closing it however. It was a time later that the All-King arrived.

Naruto sighed at his thoughts and looked towards his hands, he had killed again, something he wished it didn't have to resort to, but it did. Naruto's head hung in defeat and he sat in his own pity.

"You know, that captain you killed? He was my brother."

Those simple little words rocked Naruto's whole peace of mind, he looked over towards the speaker and there was Sabo, his eye and face may have been swollen but everything else was apparent, his blonde wavy hair that stopped at the nape of his neck, well some the other pieces of hair were displaced and dried, some ever extended in the air, but it was matted with some blood, the ascot on his neck had absorbed a lot of blood and had changed from it's white, to more of a pink. His chest was bare, but stained with blood, and his shorts were muddy at the knees for having to kneel in a prone position, the chains on Sabo's wrists were bound to the floor and only had enough space for maybe a few inches off the ground. Naruto found his apparel lacking and he looked around and found articles of clothing, a blue coat was hanging on a hook and black boots underneath the coat, it was the hat that was on top of the boots that Naruto found peculiar, it was a gentleman's top hat but the top of the hat had a wider frame, and the brims of the hat were bent and design in a way of a cowboy hat, but beside all that was a simple long pipe, like one from plumbing, with an angle pipe at the end.

"I apologize."

Naruto heard a laugh and the collection of phlegm. Sabo spit at the body and smiled at Naruto.

"That asshole was only my brother by legality, no my true brother are pirates out on the sea, there is no love loss for that prick, and I don't hate you for doing it."

Naruto smirked and laughed at that, he feared he might have created hatred for his actions.

"So you're the investigator that Stelly was talking about, ha, you got that little shit scared, so how did you learn about Stelly?"

Naruto looked towards the door to see if the king had returned yet but found it still empty, Naruto heard the question and just looked at Sabo.

"I questioned the people of the Military Sector of the Captain Guard after learning of your meeting where you went missing from Dadan and the others."

Sabo grumbled slightly and the mention of Dadan.

"Once she learns I got myself captured she is going to kick my ass, those others you talked about must have been happy that I was gone."

The mention of the other's reaction confused Naruto, by what he saw it wasn't even close to that.

"Why would you say that about them?"

Sabo looked at Naruto and just rolled his eyes, like it was obvious.

"Those assholes never really accepted me as their leader and they made my life hell all the time, second guessing my decision, creating doubt when I spoke, assholes."

Naruto smirked at the info and even began laughing; Sabo was confused at the laughter and was actually getting angry.

"Well then it is going to be a kick in the nuts when I tell you that the person in your employ that made me promise was one of those assholes."

Naruto was right it did feel like a kick in the nuts, those assholes made his life like shit and they actually cared enough to make someone promise to come save him.

"Hey just for laughs, why did you promise to protect me?"

Naruto looked at Sabo and smiled sincerely.

"When that man asked, he was in a lot of pain, he must have cared for you a lot to beg me to protect you, and so I just did. I had no reason to say yes, other then I wanted to."

Sabo was flabbergasted by the admission.

'_Just because you wanted to, what the hell kind of simpleminded answer is that, but why…why risk being thrown in jail and with the eventuality of execution would you just risk you future on "you wanted to", is it that easy, are you able to do these things because you are strong, or is it the type of person you are. But if that is the type of person you are, what does that make me, I would hesitate to do that, unless it was Ace or Luffy, but a complete stranger, would I become strong if I was with you, your headed for greatness I know that, but would I become great if I was with you, would adventures with you be the ones that I have dreamed of chronicling, I am dead to everyone except Dadan, and any strength that Luffy or Ace have obtain for my death would be for nothing, so I can't go with either of them, so am I just choosing you because you are my last chance, or is it because I feel you are destined for greatness…"_

"Oye, Naruto?"

Naruto turned towards Sabo and saw that he had a question on his mind.

"Would it be possible if I…"

Sabo was interrupted by the opening of the door, well it was more of the door being kicked in by an old man, an old man in a marine uniform, coat and all, but it was that symbol of the monkey on his shoulder that informed Sabo of who this was. It was Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"So… you send Tazuna back to me to pick up, and even steal my medical supplies, and then when I arrive to overview your investigation I find you have completed it yet you killed someone? Oh I can't wait till I tell Biwako."

Sabo was confused at the name Biwako but it was Naruto's expression that made Sabo worried_, _fear, pure, unmitigated fear. Sabo watched with fascination as Sarutobi-sama stalk towards the cage, like a mischievous child about to do something cruel. Sarutobi ripped that cage door off its pegs and reached for the captive. Naruto's girlish scream brought Sabo out of his daze.

"NNNOOOOOO, NNNOOO GOD NO, I DON'T WANT TO DIE, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME BOSS, I THOUGHT WE WERE LIKE FAMILY, DON'T SEND ME TO THAT DEVIL WOMAN, SHE'LL TEAR ME APART….PLEASE DON'TTTTTTTTT."

Sabo watched with pity as Naruto held onto the bars of his cage like a child knowing they were going to be severly punished, what would make this hilarious if Sarutobi sama said what Naruto was doing would only make the punishment worse.

"WHY YOU CRYING? YOU STOP THAT YOU WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE…"

Sabo barked with laughter and both the attentions of Naruto and Sarutobi were upon him.

"IT'S HIS FAULT HE GOT CAPTURED EVEN THOUG HE IS TRONG ENOUGH TO NOT BE."

Sabo paled and felt embarrassed, and felt that it was a little pathetic that Naruto actually thought that would work.

"Oh really, I guess he has to receive his punishment too."

Sabo felt pure confusion, maybe he should have known that strong people were never normal, it was true with Garp, Luffy, and Ace, and it was habit he should have accepted.

The door to his cell was wrenched open and a very strong hand had gripped him, in Sabo's rational mind everything went to shit, fuck rationality he wanted to live. Sabo did like Naruto and gripped the bars, and there the two of them were holding those bars like the devil was behind them, that was mostly true but it was the devil's husband.

"YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE NARUTO, I FUCKING HATE YOU."

Naruto took the time to flip Sabo off, showing the strength in his sole are, this however was a mistake seeing how with both arms he was strong enough not to be wrenched away but now…Naruto's body was thrown across the room and through the brick wall, Sabo saw the maniacal face of Sarutobi-sama and saw that his strength was being sapped away and he too was thrown through a wall. Never seeing the pure joy Sarutobi-sama had on his face.

Sarutobi looked at the All-King and slapped him on his back.

"I will handle this Alexander, just inform the rebels that Sabo has been pardon for his crimes, however he is to be exiled from returning to Goa until a later date to be disclosed, and I am sorry about your son."

Alexander smiled and hugged his friend.

"I thank you for sending Mr. Naruto dear friend; I find it commendable that he would hold a promise where there is a chance like that."

Sarutobi smiled and nodded in agreement.

"It is a trait that is commendable, I just wish it didn't take so long for him to realize."

Alexander sighed in knowing and chuckled at something.

"What do you think Biwako would do?"

Sarutobi smiled a wicked grin.

"How the hell should I know? I just said that because the little shit destroyed my bay windows."

Alexander barked with laughter at the evil that was his dear friend, it was always fun with his old sailing partner.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

At the moment both Naruto and Sabo, were speeding through the streets trying to put much distance between themselves and the devil's advocate, Sabo was astonished at the speed that Naruto was able to reach, and Naruto was surprised that Sabo could keep up. They had made it to the north end of Grey Terminal when Naruto did what he did, Sabo felt a foot connect his and he tripped.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

Sabo felt a presence behind him and knew the reason for the sabotage, and didn't fault Naruto.

"SURVIVAL!"

Sabo felt himself being lifted off the ground and dusted off, Sabo turned to look at the elderly gentleman he knew was behind him.

"Do not worry, I mostly said that because that little shit destroyed my windows at home, payback is a bitch, isn't it Flintlock Sabo?"

Sabo was not amazed that Sarutobi-sama knew his family name; he was amazed about the prank he played on Naruto.

"So you have seen the greatness that is Naruto and you wish to follow him is that correct?"

Sabo halted in his step when he heard this; how the hell could Sarutobi-sama know that?

"Do not be so shocked my dear boy, I have been around people and have learned to read them, three times you lifetime, I know right when I saw you when you were talking to Naruto, that you had hopes and dreams and you felt that Naruto's path would blend with your's, but I wish to stop you from being hurt, Naruto… has been scarred, but it isn't something you can see, Naruto has been traumatized critically, and Naruto would never accept your offer, not because you are weak, but because he feel that he is. No one can simply ask Naruto to join; they have to without him ever saying no."

Sabo and Sarutobi walked for miles before they came upon a sight, before them there was the makings of construction, base frames were being built and Sabo could recognized the people that were constructing the base and the frame were people of the Terminal. Sabo looked at everyone and then he saw Naruto and he was talking to Dadan. Sabo wished he could go down there but the people of the Terminal would recognize him and the painstaking cover up would be revealed.

"You see this Sabo…this is the brain child of Naruto, and the people of the Terminal, in time their idea will bring them a fortune that they have no idea what to do with, but with Naruto owning the company it will become, I never have to fear someone reaching their greedy hands into it, and with Naruto's plan on having Dadan run the company I can fear even less…"

Sabo was amazed by Naruto's decision, but he started laughing when he heard Dadan scream.

"Like I said Sabo, Naruto will never agree to you joining, so I suggest you take the decision from him."

Sabo looked at Sarutobi with awe and he saw the smirk on the old man's face.

"Will he forgive me?"

Sarutobi heard the question and smiled.

"Oh yeah he'll forgive, but you should be more concerned with the fact that he won't forget, just know that Naruto has a cruel prank side."

Sabo grimaced slightly and turned away before he turned back.

"How do you know so much of Naruto, I thought he was just an employee?"

Sarutobi looked at Sabo and smiled.

"Whoever said that, I have known Naruto ever since he was a child, he lived on my island with me since he was a babe, of course I know him…I'm the one that trained him…Sabo head to the village and find the only boat with a smoke stack, that is Naruto's bearing vessel, I will stall him until then."

Sabo smiled at Sarutobi and disappeared in a rush of speed. Sarutobi saw Naruto walking away and appeared next to him. Naruto paled slightly and tried to run away, but was caught, and held under Sarutobi's arm.

"You know I am 26 granddad, this is a little embarrassing."

Naruto was knocked on the head and he pouted at his granddad.

"No what is embarrassing is that a 26 year old man clung to cell bars like a little baby and screaming that the devil was coming to kill him, when I mentioned telling his grandmother."

Naruto glared at his granddad and flipped him off. Naruto was carried like that for a few minutes before he was let go. Naruto placed his hand on the ground before hitting it and flipped off the ground next to his departing grandfather, a couple feet away.

"I must say Naruto, you results were more then I expected, with all the things that have happened, I must inform you though I was going to decline your travel once I heard that you killed that man, but when I heard why I changed my mind. But what did it was your new business, from what Dadan told me, I was that you and the others thought of this venture off of the needs of them and no others. It is a well designed plan. I must say Naruto you have my blessing to travel with my backing."

Naruto felt his heart swell with confirmation and he shook his granddad's hand.

"So you feel that I am ready to start my journey?"

Naruto's smile fell when he saw his granddad's expression.

"Naruto, you being ready for this journey is something complete different to me thinking you are capable of handling stress…you need more then my backing Naruto, I hope you know this."

Naruto sighed and felt his heart deflate, his granddad was correct, his being ready was only something that Naruto would know, but if Naruto was honest with himself, he wasn't, and Naruto hated himself for being honest.

"You need to go Naruto, Tazuna has waited long enough, and in time I hope you find people that can mend your scars."

Naruto paused for a moment and then disappeared as though he was never there. Sarutobi felt pain when he recognized his grandson's emotion. Only time and care would bring his grandson back to his original self.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Naruto appeared beside Tazuna on the boat, Tazuna jumped slightly at the appearance but other than that nothing.

"Let's go save your island Tazuna."

Tazuna grunted and started the engine of his boat, Naruto turned and sat in the chair on the deck, Naruto closed his eyes and when he opened them he saw boots…boots that were attached to a person foot.

Naruto moved and looked at the person, it was Sabo, and he looked content on being on a boat.

"Are you lost? Your home is that way."

Naruto pointed back towards the land and Sabo chuckled.

"That place hasn't been a home since the world thought I was dead, so if it is not my home, I think I should go find a new one, I met this cool old man in a bar and he was talking about how a cruel man was harming his home, so I said I would help, but he said that he already had help, so I said when that person comes I would be helping them help Tazuna."

Naruto looked at Tazuna and saw the man nod, Naruto turned his eyes back to Sabo, and Sabo saw pain in Naruto's eyes.

"That is a wonderful offer however, people have a tendency of dying around me, and I can't watch your back when I have to watch mine."

Naruto saw that Sabo understood and told Tazuna to turn around.

"Well then I guess I have to watch your back so you can watch mine, it's only fair, seeing how you saved my life."

Naruto felt his choice of his decisions ebbing away, Sabo was stubborn he knew that but Naruto would not risk Sabo's life and his heart with the possibility that Sabo would die.

"I cannot accept I'm sorry."

Sabo sighed and jumped off the roof, Naruto apologies and turns away.

"In the cages back at the jail, I felt that this was my only chance of becoming who I felt I could be that my dreams would come true if I follow you, and I trust my gut, it's never wrong. So whatever your dream is…it's now mine, and whenever two people have them same dream they either are rivals or allies, and I rather be your ally, so regardless what happens, I will help you meet your dream, and in the process my dream will come true, so your stuck with me."

Naruto should have listened more when Sarutobi told him about an unmovable force; Naruto was stuck with having Sabo helping him with his dream. So if Naruto was upset about Sabo why did he feel happy that Sabo was here?

In time Naruto would know

xxXXxxXXENDXXxxXXxx

To all readers that will most likely ask I will explain, Naruto revisiting what had happened with his investigation, was actually supposed to be chapters, but the thing was, while I am trying to convey Naruto weakness, I also have to show his maturing, do you know how hard that fucking is. HARD. So I have put it as a revisiting, and the reader that asked about Luffy you got your wish. Now if anyone tries to flame me on the fact about Luffy's personality all I have to say is…piss off. No where does it state in the anime or manga that the ideal that Luffy holds now has been the same, I have made Luffy in this chapter a little selfish and immature in his ideal, does Naruto help him change his ideal, maybe, maybe not. Just know that I write when I do, and even though I have tried to deter flamers, do it flame me, give my writing credence, I absorb your hatred and turn it into writing fuel, and if you flame stupid shit just know that I will come back with facts that the manga has given all us ONE PIECE and NARUTO FANS.. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Also don't ask questions like who is who and why did that happen, read and you will know.


	5. Tazuna's Legacy

Extreme annoyance, that's what Naruto was feeling towards his damnable tag-along, Sabo had made it expressively clear that he was not going to leave and go back home, and that Naruto should just accept that he was going to do all he can to stay and help who Sabo felt was extremely enigmatic and charismatic.

"You can stop trying to convince me to let you stay, it won't work and you have already made your decision, I just don't like it."

Sabo watched as Naruto became depressed like a five year old child and sulked, Sabo knew that the only way the two of them could have a balanced interaction was for Naruto to accept Sabo, but at Sabo's current skills he had no idea how to do that.

"You know, I am going to go scrub the deck."

Naruto sneered at the annoyance and sulked somewhere else. Naruto knew that he was being childish, but if he had no real personal connection with Sabo, it would hurt less when he died…right?

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulders and he cursed at his lack of attention, seriously that was going to come back and hurt him one of these days.

"Are you scared for that boy's life Naruto?" The voice stated in a gruff tone.

Naruto nodded at Tazuna's statement and looked off to see Sabo working diligent.

"He knows that there is a possible chance of his death if he comes with me, yet he decides that he wants to help me accomplish my dreams, why the hell would he do that?"

Tazuna laughed at a secret joke and swatted Naruto on the top of his head. Naruto grumbled at the hit and rubbed the spot.

"It's because he is the one thing that you haven't had on your trips. He considers himself your Nakama, a friend, or a comrade. Before, I heard you had yes men on your former crews, but him, he will challenge you, defy you and fight you on everything you decide because, he has decided that he is your nakama, they are the most important thing a person could have, and you are going to need them if you wish to make your dreams come true, but the real question is, when you get to that mountain are you going to let them die or are you going to protect them. Nakama fight side-by-side, will you fight with them when they fight for your dream, or let them die because you don't have the strength to make your own dream come true."

Naruto weighs what Tazuna had said, his grandfather and Asuma all hinted that he was missing something very important, even Konohamaru did to, was this that one thing that he never learned in his training, that you needed friends and comrade to make you stronger. That must be true because Sarutobi-jiisan had all those students, but he never called them students, just comrades, did you really become stronger when you had people there to help you. Naruto knew that he had to find out; Naruto stood up straighter and looked at Tazuna, Tazuna saw that determination and the strength that he wished to see Naruto have.

"But how do I do that?"

Tazuna quickly faltered and cracked his head on a nearby wall; Tazuna recovered and socked Naruto in the head again.

"You make him stronger, you are a strong individual and the Marines know that the people you have with you should be just as strong, but you and your whole family are training monsters, so I don't think he will match it for a while, but get him to a safe level."

Naruto took in Tazuna's words; Tazuna felt his pride and ego inflate as he proved smarter then this former child monster, which was until he was socked in the stomach by said former child monster.

"That was for all those times you hit me you ASS, also when you wake up make sure you stop us at the 10 mile marker from Wave Island…fucker…"

Naruto walked away grumbling about old men that felt that just because they were older they could beat up on younger, energetic you men.

"I don't believe in giving respect, you earn it… fucking shit-kickers." Naruto seemed to whisper under his breath.

Tazuna laughed under his breath as the monster walked away.

'_just like when he was younger, I should have remembered that the boy would beat the hell out of you for assuming anything, but he gave me a job and I think I should complete it, if I don't he'll prank me until I die…but I think I should take his advise and sleep."_

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Sabo looked out at the sea and felt a strange completion. His ever present dreams of having an adventure had come true, and all that was next was to write down the results of his adventures, but Sabo felt a nagging thought cross his mind, would he actually have a fulfilling adventure with a captain that despised him for his choice. Sabo didn't have that answer and that is what worried him. He had ultimately taken away a person right to choose, and that was a right that people would kill to have, Sabo suspected that he will always be despised for his decision, but would Naruto actually make his life harder for him because.

"Alright you little fucker, you have made your choice and now you have to deal with the consequences. You want to be part of my path then you have to be strong, stronger then you are right now. So all I have to say is…WELCOME TO HELL!"

Sabo blanched at Naruto, fate just had to be bitch didn't she, had to listen into his thoughts and suffice it to say, groin kick him with the power of an elephant, but it possibly wouldn't be so bad. Sabo walked with Naruto until they reached a sleeping Tazuna that had a real strange sleeping spot. Naruto jabbed Tazuna in his ribs with a sharp kick.

"Up, old man."

Tazuna cried at the pain and glared at the blonde devil that caused his pains.

"When you were a kid that was cute, but now you are looking for whoopin'."

Naruto smiled a cheshire grin and squatted next to Tazuna.

"Do you really think that you could even touch me, you seemed to have forgotten that I was trained by Sarutobi-san."

Tazuna looked at Naruto with a neutral expression and then looked back at Sabo behind Naruto; Sabo noticed that Tazuna was mouthing words to him. Sabo tried to piece the words together until he finally did, and found the word peculiar.

'_Run? Why the hell would Tazuna want me to run…hold on. Naruto said something about making me stronger…yeah he said that, but Naruto just said that he was trained by Saru…tobi…sama. Oh shit.'_

Sabo looked towards the side of the boat and saw a life boat, hanging like a sign from Kami; that was his ticket away from hell. Sabo lunged at the life boat and released it from the pulley, Sabo and the life boat smashed into the water and Sabo began to row away from the boat like his life depended on it. It most likely did. Sabo was looking behind him to sail away from the blonde devil until he felt the boat rock slightly.

"What a wondrous idea to help me gauge your strength Sabo."

Sabo looked towards the voice with fear and saw that Naruto was lounging on one of the seats with a cup of something in his hand.

Naruto grinned wickedly and stared at Sabo.

"You are to row at the same speed you are to Wave Island, which is the island Tazuna wants us to free from the tyranny of a man named Gato, while along the way I will tell you my plan for accomplishing this, now for the gauging you have to row all the way there with no breaks, and if you do stop or slow down, once we get on the main land I will train you until your legs bleed…you got it."

Naruto said this with a child-like glee, Sabo felt as though his soul wanted to escape, the small waiver in speed let Naruto know something was up; when Sabo saw Naruto's eyes he got over whatever it was and got to work.

"What the hell will this tell you?"

Naruto looked off at the passing sea and then smirked.

"How much stamina you have, and what is your endurance threshold?"

Sabo found that an excellent way to do this but that only made since depending on the distance.

"How far is Wave?"

Naruto looked back towards the boat that was vaguely visible to the other side where Sabo was sitting.

"I don't really know, I asked Tazuna to stop us at the 10 mile marker, but your face annoyed me so I decided to do it now, so actually let me rephrase what I said earlier, you can take breaks when I say, not before."

Sabo's face paled at the admittance however never faltered in his speed.

"Who the hell trained you like this, the fucking devil?"

Naruto shivered slightly at Sabo's words and looked at the rower.

"Someone far worse then the devil, he would actually say that I was going easy on you right now…Luffy, this person on your island, your friend I think, reminds me of him, my master was so simple it was scary."

Sabo actually stopped mid row and the boat slowed, Naruto was annoyed and then looked at Sabo and found that he was disturbingly frightened.

"Was your master's name…Garp?"

Naruto nodded at the question and was concerned as Sabo developed a tick at his left eye.

"Do you still have the nightmares of a giant gorilla chasing you with cannonballs for hands, and when they strike they explode, and the gorilla laughs in ominous glee?"

Naruto's face was shocked in perpetual stillness and he only nodded slowly. Naruto's mind flashed back to that devil's smile and visibly shook.

"I will forgive your stopping on the fact that you had the misfortune to be trained under that man."

Sabo looked like a metal ward patient with his constant shaking. Sabo got back into the rowing and when his speed was like before he continued.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Along the way to the island Sabo would listen to Naruto speak and hum in different accents, Naruto seemingly found an accent and kept with it, he seemed to favor a feminine German accent.

"Ven we get to zhe island, I vant you to play along, okay."

Sabo chuckled at the accent, and just found that the voice didn't fit with Naruto seeing how Sabo already knew his voice. Sabo nodded. Naruto stood up and looked towards the horizon; he seemed to have seen something, because he started to kick him in the legs.

"Faster…faster, you fazher was faster zen zis, I should just get zhat decrepit old man and force him back to work."

Sabo looked confused slightly until Naruto looked back up and seemed to motion his head slightly.

"You can't do that, you and your damn gallivanting has nearly destroyed him."

Naruto smiled slightly and kicked Sabo one more time.

"Zen do your fucking job."

A loud shot was heard and a spot next to the boat had a sharp rise in water, when the bullet struck it, Sabo quickly stopped well away from the person shooting and looked towards Naruto, he noticed that Naruto was moving his hand over his hair and noticed that it became slick, and the color was turning brown. Sabo didn't question it and turned around as they slowly drifted closer to the shooter.

The man appeared to be a marksman or sort, his arms were bare, yet his chest was armored, his legs were also donned in a light pant material, and had padding on his knees, the last piece was a mask and a magnifying object on one of his eyes.

"You need to turn back, there is an embargo on this island and no one is allowed to enter."

Naruto suddenly looked appalled by what was said and glared at the man in front of him.

"And who says zhat I have to?"

The man gulped at the intimidation that the brunette was excreting.

"Gato…sir"

Sabo watched Naruto grin a wicked grin, and slapped Sabo on his back.

"Zhen you vill let me zhourgh, it seems zhat Gato has yet to pay me for his use of my island."

Sabo finally understood what Naruto was playing at, there was really only one group of people that could own any of the islands.

"And who the hell makes you think you…"

The man was stopped by the top hat wearing man in the boat, the guard was fearful that the man could just appear in a burst of speed on his post out in the middle of the ocean but that he had a tight grip on his face.

"Your next words would have killed you, that man is Tenryubito, a World Noble."

The guard was suspicious of the man's words until he saw the fear in the man's eyes when he looked at the man. The guard agreed that the man was scary, but what the man didn't know was that Sabo was using his fear of the notorious training Naruto promised him, to help him sell his fear of a noble. Sabo really didn't fear anyone other then Naruto, he almost died by a Tenryubito, and that kind of destroyed his fear of anyone else.

The guard understood the severity of even thinking of saying no to a World Noble, but the man also took much happiness seeing how the Noble was here to see Gato and he seemed upset with him.

"I will take you to the island."

Naruto smiled at the guard and kicked Sabo, who had reentered the boat aside, Naruto then patted the spot next to him.

"Don't vorry darling, I don't bite."

The guard grimace slightly and took his seat next to the Noble, the guard would stomach the Noble's advances until he got back to the island, then he would wash the man from him and go have sex with his wife. The guard pointed on and Sabo began to row at his normal pace. Naruto was cuddling up to the guard until he kicked at Sabo.

"Faster, I vant to see zhis Gato today, slave."

Sabo nodded and the speed of the boat was faster then the guard could take, and he vomited on the side of the boat. Naruto pouted at the man and rubbed his stomach.

"It is are right, Sabo here vill find you a wemedy vhen ve get on zhe island."

The guard slightly flinched from the touch of the man. Sabo watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto was playing his character masterfully. Sabo for one would never question his Captain, it just seemed that Naruto was playing the character extremely well, that either meant that Naruto himself was attracted to men, or that Naruto knows someone that is and is just mimicking their mannerisms, and if his captain was, it didn't matter to him.

From the guards post to the port of the island, it took roughly three minutes. The marksman was impressed by the Noble's slave, that much strength in that man was staggering, the Noble used his slave to exit out of the boat, and onto the port, the slave later jumped off the boat and next to the Noble, again the guard was impressed, the Noble must have chosen the slave for his strength, endurance and skill. The guard started walking towards Gato's villa; he wanted to get this day over with. The guard however didn't expect to see the Noble laugh and skip when he saw children. The guard himself was a islander and found the Nobles presence a blessing and a curse, if the island was indeed the Nobles then that meant that Tazuna had been working with the Noble and must have been incredibly fair, their life before Gato was pleasant, the local guard watch the Noble pull out his money pouch and begin to give the money to the children, however when adults came the Noble ordered his slave to kick their asses.

"Dirty little money grubbers, adults with children deserve the money more then you, I will only give to children, they shouldn't suffer like this."

The guard was amazed by the Noble and his kindness, but it made the guard suspicious, why would a noble act civil it goes against what they had heard. The Noble finally stopped his charity and walked back to the guard, the Noble seemed to have notice the guards look and commented.

"Vhat? I can't show humility?"

The guard looked ahead of himself and didn't say anything else; it was quite sometime before the guard said anything.

"I just find it strange that a noble would give away their money, to poor a child, that's all."

The Noble pondered the guards comment and looked around him, the cobblestone roads were caked with mud, the houses and shops on either side of the streets were either closed or the prices of the products were too high for purchase, behind the houses on the Nobles left was a hill, that traveled up to a large warehouse, the island was a large mountain, the warehouse was perched on the side of the mountain, carved into the mountain, simple chutes traveled from the warehouse to a building near the docks, the docks themselves wrapped around the base of the mountain on one side of the island, and the houses and shops did to, some houses were carved into the mountain. The noble could see a large house up the street near the warehouse, it was a simple two story but it was larger then all the other houses, that was the groups destination. The noble turned to the guard and spoke finally.

"You know, zhe first inhabitants of zhis island, carved zheir homes out of zhe mountain, and when zhey died off, because of zhe pirates bringing zheir diseases vizh zhem, Tazuna and his collaborators saw potential. I gave zhem zhis island close to 20 years ago, vhen I was 7… naïve I was to give zhem something for such a low amount, but zhey began paying me for zheir habitation here, so… I became intrigued, I traveled here nearly 10 years ago, and vhat I saw astounded me, Tazuna and his collaborators, had turned zhis simple mountain island into somezhing vunderful, so I decided I must be a part of zhis, I gave my money and zhey gave me partial ownership, me a Noble. I zhought zhat zhey would decline because zhey zhought I was interested in taking it from zhem, all Tazuna said was zhat, I helped give people a home and a lifestyle and zhat made me a great person… so I zhought zhat if zhey could see past zhe noble, could I do the same? So I see zhese people as humans, I still have my tendencies but… zhey have zheir purpose."

The guard found the accent hard to follow, but was able to hear the key things, this Noble was completely different, more humble, but still a giant tool. The guard stopped and as did the Noble, the guard pointed to the two story house.

"That is where Gato is; I have to get back to my post."

The Noble nodded and ordered Sabo to come.

"Sabo you are to take zhe guard back to his post, and zhen return to me, no dawdling!"

Sabo nodded and walked with the guard back.

Naruto looked at the departing duo and took a deep breath. Naruto did not like the way the island was falling apart, Gato had done a very big number on the local citizens; they were either to afraid to do anything or had lost the will to do anything. Naruto knew that he had to play this next part very smart or he could lose his position and Gato would react sooner then he wanted to. Naruto traveled up the incline to the house and saw that as he got closer to the house, the area was cleaner and more kept up, and Naruto anger spiked at this and had to pause to catch his breath. Halfway up the hill Naruto felt the eyes of someone watching him, this person had to be well trained to hide his presence from Naruto, but Naruto felt for the person's aura and found it in the mountain side, his aura however showed just curiosity, nothing else, no suspicion or malice, this meant the person didn't care that Naruto was here, Naruto felt another presence near the first, but this one's aura exuded insanity, and murderous glee.

Naruto kept his pace but smiled to himself slightly.

Naruto came upon the door and found that the original door had been replaced by a large metal door and a slot at eye level. Naruto got back into character and knocked on the door, the slot at eye level opened and a person looked out, the eyes fell on Naruto and narrowed with anger.

"Get the fuck away from the door and leave or you will be shot."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the person's tone and seemed to be trying to contain his anger. The person saw this and chuckled slightly.

"You are going to open zhe door, or I will kick it down."

The person looked at Naruto with perplex and started laughing loud and hard. Naruto sneered at the person and walked back slightly, the person made a comment how Naruto was a good bitch to listen. Naruto stopped in mid stride and turned around sharply, the person saw this, and snickered, when Naruto started to sprint towards the door, the person behind the door started to laugh uproariously.

"You idiot this door is eighteen inches of pure steel there is no…"

The person behind the door was interrupted, when the door he was commenting on exploded of it hinges and landed on the person, luckily the person was a very large man and had enough girth so the door didn't crush him. The man under the door felt more pressure coming from the door and looked through the door slot, the man that kicked the door was standing on top of the door, kneeling and looking at him.

"Normally I would have my slave kill you, but he is currently busy, so you live, but zhe next time you bar my entrince you vill die, I am a Noble you idiot, people open doors for me, not close zhem."

The man under the door eyes widens in fear and before he could apologies, Naruto stomped the area of the door where the man's head was. The impact knocked the man out and Naruto decided to stroll around the house looking for Gato. Naruto had traveled awhile before he came upon a door that showed even more security, the door had two men posted at the door, these men had swords on their hips, to Naruto that was the only thing that mattered. The guards noticed Naruto at the end of the hall, and already had their hands poised to strike with their swords. Naruto strolled up to the two and watched as they pulled their swords from their scabbards. Naruto saw this and grinded his teeth in annoyance.

"I must tell you that if you pull that sword on me, I will break both your collar bones and then your necks, but I will do it in a way that makes you stay alive only paralyzed. The last person to pull a sword on a Noble only lived long enough to see their family die in front of them."

The two stopped when they heard the word Noble, they started to shake in fear as they relized the repercussions of what they almost did. They slowly placed their swords on the ground in front of the noble and opened the door to their boss's office. Their boss was upset, until he saw that his most seasoned guards were shaken by something, Gato notice a moment later that they escorted a man into the office, this man held a demeanor and poise that screamed royalty, and had extremely expensive clothes. One of his guards walked over and whispered into his ear. The next piece of information shocked Gato to his core. Before him was a Tenryubito, how Gato didn't know that one was coming, unsettled him, but it couldn't be helped ever since Tazuna left, he had to make sure no one could come in our out of the island, so if a letter came he would never know.

He watched the Noble look around the office and picks up things and the set them down, the Noble looked upset about something.

"What do I owe the pleasure of a World Noble in my presence?"

Naruto looked towards Gato and then moved towards a seat and then when he sat down he crossed his legs like a women.

"It has come to attention zhat you have acquired zhe job zhat was once held by Tazuna, however I have discovered zhat you…didn't come by it legally…don't interrupt…I know zhis because, Tazuna and I had an agreement, he had full use of my island and all he had to do vas pay a small fee. I became vorried vhen is fee did not come, but zhen vhen I sent a letter to Tazuna, come to learn zhat someone place an embargo, on my island, vithout…my…permission."

Gato gulped at the implications of the Noble words, it was completely true that he had took over the company from Tazuna, and he had to figure the business out, it had a different outline then other companies he had taken over, and information like the island was owned by a Noble was not disclosed, for obvious reason. Gato was about to talk until he noticed that another man was walking through his door, and had in his hand tow of his guards, holding them by their throats.

"You could have waited for me master, I tried explaining to these idiots that I was with you, but they said a Noble wasn't in the house, so I did what you told me to and I brought them to you so you could handle them."

The man then threw Gato's men into the armoire behind Gato, the force that the two had been thrown resulted in them stuck into the wall. Gato quivered slightly at the sight and watched as the man kneeled by the Noble.

"Zhat vas a good zhing you did Sabo, you deserve a vonderful lunch vhen ve are done here, now you can sit, you don't need to kneel, you deserve a break."

Sabo took off his hat and sat in the seat next to his master. Gato shook a little more, this Noble had humility and that was not something that a very powerful, egotistical person should have, it made their emotions hard to pin down.

"Now regardless how you came to run zhe company, I have also learned zhat you have bought out zhe island citizens of zheir shares of zhe company. Now I know zhey did not give zthem to you villingly, you must zhreaten zhem to sign over, again… I don't care… however, I have heard zhat you are planning to take zhe company public, but you need all zhe shares to do zhat, and you must found zhat you are missing zhe ozher 51% of zhe company shares, now zhe people won't tell you, cause zhat is zhere hope, zhey know who has zhose shares, and zhey are just toughing it out until one zhem returns."

Gato found it annoying that the Noble had discovered his secret plan, the only the Noble could have known was that someone was talking, and he would need to find that person and silence them.

"Now zhat you know, I have come to tell you zhat I have returned on behalf of the Board of Director's, zhe people zhat truly own zhis company. Zhe vish to tell you, zhat you will continue to run zhe company, unhindered, however your passionate plan to own zhe company needs to cease, or Sabo here has been orders to kill you."

Gato gulped at the proclamation, but found solace that he was not going to die, but the Noble presumed too much to think that he was going to stop his plan.

"Out of curiosity, who is the Board of Directors, that I take orders from now?"

Sabo looked towards his master and saw that he was smirking like the devil himself.

"Zhe Board of Directors identities, are not to be disclosed, but I have been given permission to tell you that the owners are High Ranking Marines, Rich Merchants, and me."

Gato, upon hearing Marines felt his calculating plan disappear in a wisp, and that one of the owners was right in front of him. Now Gato normally wasn't a stupid man, but he had a share owner right in front of him, and seeing how he had bought the other 49% of shares, all he needed was 2% from this Noble, and the only way to do that was to kill him, and forge his name as a share holder.

"It is wonderful to know that a owner himself has come to inform me, if it pleases you, I have a house boat attached to the dock, you could stay their until you depart, I will have my account come by later this evening to give you the fees owed."

Naruto thought it over and nodded in acceptance, he knew there was a plan and he needed to set it off.

"Fine ve vill take our leave, do not keep me vaiting."

Gato nodded quickly and saw that the Noble left moments later, Gato looked at his guards and shooed them away. A door adjacent to the desk opened and in walked a woman with a simple black robe, with red clouds stitched into the robe, her robe was a snug fit and showed her curves, her eyes showed complete stillness and never waivered, her hair was that of a soft purple color, and in the hair was a accessory of a purple flower.

"I never thought the owners would be as powerful as they were mentioned."

Gato looked towards his accountant and nodded himself.

"Do you think he was lying?"

The woman paused slightly and looked back in her memories, there didn't seem to be any deception from either of them, the slave truly feared the Noble, and the Noble held the mannerisms of a true Noble.

"They would have to be extremely committed to a lie to make me believe them; however there is no deception from either of them. Be wary Gato, if you offend him they will kill you for the hell of it, and Akatsuki might pull their support from you."

Gato grumbled at the mention of the secretive group, they had money and it was in need of laundering, Gato was the only person with the resources to do such large amounts, but it was more suspicious that they would speak through his accountant only, the woman feared them and she didn't fear easily.

"We need to solve this problem however, tell him to stop his search for Tazuna, and to take care of the Noble, if he tries to decline inform him of the information we were able to dig up on him as leverage."

The woman nodded and disappeared by a closing door, Gato would fulfill his part of the agreement he had with Akatsuki and he would be set for life.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Gato's accountant walked the length of the mountain to reach a small alcove in the mountain, inside was a small dwelling that held four room, two bedrooms a bathroom and a kitchen, with simple kitchen appliances, like a fire pit and a box for cold foods, it was however a wide opening in the mount side that showed the portside of the island. The woman stepped slightly but had to stop when she felt the point of a sharp object on her jugular.

"I have come with new orders from Gato."

Even with that declaration the object did not lower, the woman was shaking when a blast of malevolent aura crashed into her, she began to gasp for air but was held up by a hand on her throat. Her eyes traveled to a man entering through the opening on the mountain, the man was tall around 6'5" and was bare chested, a simple belt went from his right shoulder to his left hip, on the back was and attached to the belt was a giant Zanbato, the pants that he wore were baggy in nature but were tapped at the ankle, the sandals he wore were a natural wood, the pants pattern was a dark brown, with chaotic lines of blood red, the man was expertly flipping a knife in his hand, which were bound up with black medical tape, he had bound the tape all the way up to his elbow. However none of this frightened the woman, it was the man's eyes, they appeared small and dilated, but they held a demonic glee, his lower half of his face was wrapped by the same material as his arms, and his hair was the blackest ebony, slightly short but had small length.

"Let her go."

The owner of the hand listened at let the woman go, she wasn't able to see the person because the person vanished and didn't appear again.

"What are the new orders?"

The woman stood back up and stretched her neck to get rid of the strain; the person was gripping very tight.

"Gato says that you can forget about Tazuna, one of the owners have come back to see what was the problem with the company and to see why Tazuna had renege on his agreement with him."

The man listened and then looked out of the opening.

"Gato wants me to go after a Noble?"

The woman didn't show shock that this man knew already; he watched everything around the island.

"Yes."

The man stopped and began to chuckle, and then laugh.

"Tell Gato that a Noble are a no go for me, tell him to find someone else."

The woman nodded but did not leave; the man saw this and began to become upset.

"Gato understands, however he has learned of some new information about you, and has told me that if you do not comply the information will be released. You are already a wanted man, if people find out that you are that man's son, your bounty will rise and you will not be able to use a bathroom without killing the people in it first… Zabuza."

Zabuza appeared in front of her and stared at her with so much focus rage, she began to sweat.

"You tell Gato, that disclosure of my hand in a noble's death will result in me killing him, now leave before I have my apprentice actually choke you to death."

The woman left in a hurry and left Zabuza to his thoughts; Zabuza felt the presence of his apprentice and sighed.

"We kill the noble tonight Haku, be prepared, Gato is for sure to betray us after this job."

The presence then disappears entirely, Zabuza watches the woman travel down the mountain, Zabuza felt that the woman was a little off when he was looking down at her, he almost felt that the woman was concealing a large secret, her fear was all wrong.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

The woman had left the alcove in a hurry but halfway down the mountain she slowed.

"These simple fools, have no idea that they are being played, however the introduction of a secret group owning this company was not thought of, this could be a problem, won't it Zetsu?"

The woman glanced down and saw a face within the ground traveling her exact same speed; the face was white in color and had a yellow orb for an eye.

"Yes mistress Konan, I should make haste to Master to inform him of this development."

Mistress Konan nodded in agreement and looked towards the port and dock, the introduction of this new group would make life harder for their plans, and sadly the person with the information about this group was going to die. Well it seems they will just have to find out the information some other way

xxXXxxXXxxENDxxXXxxXXxx

And there you have it the introduction of more Naruto universe players, what are the plans of Akatsuki in this universe, only time will tell. And what is this secret that made Zabuza change his mind, read on true readers and you will learn. With the knowledge that Naruto was trained by Garp, brings more questions, WHAT THE HELL COULD HAVE NARUTO DONE TO BE WANTED BY THE MARINES? I know but can you, my readers guess, if you can guess right the reader will be acknowledge in the chapter of its disclosure. Now people will notice that Naruto's personality is showing a little, Tazuna disclosed that Naruto was a little monster when he was little, and Naruto has a mischievous side, now Naruto torture, and Naruto will admit to the people he trains that he is going to torture them, comes from his experience with who I think is really crazy when it comes to training, Garp is a man known to beat the shit out of his own grandsons, just to teach them, so why is it so strange for Naruto to learn that way and then teach that way.

Now many of you have commented on the last chapters block text, they will be corrected, as said previously all the ideas just came out, however my lovely beta, my own wife, thought that the chapter was complete and posted it online, I now have to correct her mistake, thank you for informing me, she can be kind of mean when it comes to not telling me what she has done and pranks me notoriously.

And I don't care if you don't like Naruto's accent, it works if you remember Young Frankenstein's Frau Blücher played by Cloris Leachman, hilarious woman and hilarious movie, "He vas my boyfriend!" still makes me laugh, that is the accent I based it on.


	6. Tazuna's Legacy Part 2

The rocking boat had a soothing effect on Sabo as he listens to his captain talk about himself, Sabo suspected that his captain was leaving a large amount of details out of his answers, but that was alright to Sabo; Naruto had proved that he was a strong man, only in the aspects of intelligence though, he had yet to see his captain in battle, and he suspected when he did finally see it, it will take his breath away.

"Sabo, you have heard enough about me, tell me what was your life like on the island with Luffy and others?"

Sabo scrunched his eyes in suspicion, his captain had cleverly changed the subject on him again, the first was when the arrived on the vessel and Sabo asked a question on his captains plans; the man somehow turned that into a conversation on his past, not saying that learning that information, as vague as it was, wasn't important, Sabo wanted to know of the plan dealing with Gato.

"Well after I was blown up by that Tenryubito, Dadan found my body washed up on the beach. I learned that after my death that Luffy and another friend took it the hardest, and after they grieved they pushed themselves to be stronger. Dadan knew that if I were to return immediately then they would let their new found strength fall and they wouldn't be stronger for my death. So Dadan and I made the decision that I would run her gang in the city. Mind you they didn't seemed to appreciate me, or they did…I guess."

Naruto smiled as Sabo remembered what he said back at gaol concerning their plea.

"But before that, I lived in the forest and Grey Terminal and spent day after day with Luffy and our friend."

Naruto noticed how careful Sabo was at not saying the other person's name, but considering who the person was, Naruto knew better to dig, the three of them must have been great friends for Sabo to withhold so much.

"That's great, but what else did you do, did you have hobbies… you know that sort of thing."

Sabo looked away for a moment and then visibly reacted to a memory.

"Oh…because Luffy couldn't swim, because of his idiocy, our friend and I would have swimming contests; you're looking at the faster swimmer on Dawn Island."

Sabo's look of pride cursed Naruto in his want for a rebuttal, but he just had to take the person down a peg.

"That it good, yet seeing how your competition were either hard working individuals in the village, or the snobs of the city, I don't really see an accomplishment."

Sabo deflated slightly and began to grumble.

"You're an asshole."

Naruto chuckled slightly; Naruto was beginning to feel the small spark of camaraderie, but immediately after, he felt the pang of loss as he mind imagined Sabo being torn to ribbons. Naruto quickly shook himself out of those thoughts and saw that Sabo was blushing slightly in what he could tell was embarrassment, this could only mean that Sabo must have said something embarrassing and Naruto missed.

"I'm sorry I couldn't quite hear, what did you said?"

Sabo groaned in annoyance not knowing that Naruto was indeed telling the truth, Sabo just thought that Naruto was being cruel and wanted him to repeat his embarrassing moment to him.

"I said… I am a ventriloquist."

Naruto paused as he let the information sink in slowly. As much as he wanted to make fun of that talent, being able to throw ones voice was a strategic gold mine, he only wished he knew how to do it.

"Is it possible to teach someone to throw their voice, because I got to tell you, if I had that when I was training with Sarutobi, I would have made his life worse!"

Sabo and Naruto shared a laugh at that; Sabo could only imagine what Naruto was like growing up a student under the lauded great Sarutobi Hiruzen. Once the two stopped laughing Sabo finally pounced on the question that was boggling his mind.

"Naruto-taicho, I was wondering, why did you tell Gato that you were a share holder?"

Naruto listened to the question and sighed annoyingly, the real reason Naruto didn't want to answer Sabo was because Naruto was not one to have his methods questioned, but it was also a reminder that his methods had been in fault and normally led to defeat. Naruto was known to have a tactical and strategic mind, but when it came to his plans for Grandline they would normally fail. Naruto knew that he had to change this line of thinking, people's opinions were important, and if he had just listened to others back before all this, he might be sailing with them, instead of them dead.

"Bait…I want to give Gato the one thing that he wants, he wants those shares so he can have controlling interest in the company and make it public. Once he does that he will increase his shares amount and make more money, however this is also a double sided plan. In truth I do own shares in the company… actually I, among others, are one of the board of directors, however because of my self-enforced exile, I have let Tazuna's company and his island to suffer. The plan is if Gato takes the bait, he will send someone to kill us, and once he does, he will forge my signature on the sell of shares document. Now assuming that the person he sends does in fact kill us, once Gato forges those documents and tries to inform the board of directors he is the owner, Gato will find that he has committed fraud and the board will kill him. Now when I say it is double sided, the truth is I want the person that Gato will send, that person will have information that I…we need to complete our journey to Grandline."

Naruto quick change of the truth was needed Naruto felt; Naruto saw Sabo's eyes when he stated that he owned shares; the expecting look that Sabo held in his eyes nagged at Naruto; Naruto really found no point in withholding certain information from his tag-along, but the other information was a must.

Sabo now had a clearer understanding then he did before, Naruto was smart enough to think ahead, but what still nagged him was that how did Naruto know who Gato had hired.

Sabo's question was put on hold when he felt a severe chill run up his spine, Sabo only had this feeling previously before, when he was staring down the barrel of a cannon. When Sabo looked around he found that the hold that they were currently in was frosting over at the angle points and that a fog had settled in.

"I'm sorry for asking this, but is it normal for a boat to be this affected by fog?"

Sabo's question was apparently unheard as Naruto's demeanor had switched ever so slightly, to a looser stance.

"I vould zink so, but I don't normally vide on boats."

Sabo heard the accent that Naruto dawned and knew that they had company, but Sabo had viewed Naruto's shift in body language and found that it was guarded or it was more positioned into reacting. Sabo watched as a very large sword appeared across Naruto's throat, created by the fog it seemed; the width of the sword was possibly a foot and a half, and the length was close to something akin to 6 and half feet tall.

Sabo's eyes traveled the length of the sword to the handle and saw that there was a bandaged hand holding the sword up, but the rest of the body was not apparent; all that was behind Naruto was a disembodied hand and the fog.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Naruto felt the sudden chill that was caused by the new presence that entered the boat. Naruto dropped into a looser stance than he was used to; Naruto was worried that Sabo was not aware of the sudden intrusion on their vessel, but when he saw that Sabo's whole body shook, and that Sabo was experiencing fear, Naruto knew that Sabo was aware. It became evident when Sabo asked his question. If Sabo didn't know then when Naruto answered in his accent, Sabo knew now. Naruto however was racking his mind on who this person was that appeared on the ship. There were many people on the Grandline that could have the power to invoke this… mist, some came to mind but there was no definitive proof that pointed to those individuals, however once that sword began forming from the fog in front of him, Naruto knew who this person was. Naruto however couldn't not express his demeanor to Sabo, because along with the sword wielder, another came with him, however this person, Naruto was not familiar with.

"It seems that we have a wonderful gift given to us, a Tenryubito, a person of noble blood in front of me…it must be my birthday." The voice spoke in a baritone gruff.

Naruto watched Sabo display many characteristics in a matter of moments. Glee, joy, anticipation, but the last one was quicker then Naruto could almost register…it was fear, but it was mostly geared towards Naruto.

Naruto knew that he had to stay in character, that wild card that this person introduced had to be present before he tried anything.

"Vell, it seems zhat you have us at a horrible junction. Vhat could I help vizh?"

The voice behind Naruto grunted in annoyance as Naruto spoke; the voice seemed to have wanted something from Naruto but was not given it.

"Well, I am here to kill you and your little slave too…but I feel generous… how would you like to die? Punctured kidney, lacerated heart valve, suffocated lungs… what do you choose?"

The voice waited while Naruto thought, Naruto thought that the voice was still afflicted with an enormous ego; however Naruto knew that this person would not sink so low as to work for Gato if he had more options.

"How 'bout a vager? My slave against your's"

Naruto felt the sword dig into his neck after he called this person's plus one a slave.

"And why should I agree to this wager?"

Naruto struggled slightly to turn his head, but when he did he saw the mist collect into a featureless head, and then reform into a head with short black hair, crazed pin point eyes, and bandages covering the lower portion of his face. Naruto chuckled in his head once the face completed

'_Hello Zabuza.'_

Zabuza looked at the noble that turned his head to look at him, the noble was pretty plain other then the slick backed brown hair; however Zabuza saw the fear in the man's eyes slowly grow.

"I vould pay you."

Zabuza didn't expect that option to arise, money from a noble would reach tremendous amounts, and he would be able to complete his vendetta.

"I'll consider it once I heard the contentions."

Zabuza watched the noble nod vigorously.

"My slave, Sabo, against your's, to a battle of defeat, you vin, I pay you, and zhen kill me, but if I vin, ve survive."

Zabuza weighed the cons of this wager, if he won, he would still be able to kill the noble, but he would also still be paid by Gato, so that option was a win-win, however if lost, and that was a big if, then the noble would live, and the noble would learn that Gato ordered his death and kill the man, Zabuza would have to run again, but it wouldn't really be different then the present.

"Agreed."

Zabuza watched the noble smile faintly and ordered his slave to get ready. Zabuza looked off at one of the corners of the hull and nodded. A moment later a figure appeared before the noble slave. Zabuza's protégé was highly trained in the art of stealth, however for the noble to know that he was there, concerned Zabuza slightly, however his protégé had the strength and speed that Zabuza lacked at the moment. Zabuza's protégé was a fickle person, they had a strange habit of wearing bright colors that would normally catch light like it was supposed to, however they were able to blend seamlessly into the environment and not be discovered, currently they was dressed in a muted light blue turtle neck with black cargo pants. The left leg had a weapons pouch strapped to it, on their feet were civilian combat boots, their face however was covered by a mask, it was white in color, but had a simple red gash across the eye holes, the mask was tied to the back of their head and their hair was tied into a top knot on his head.

"Haku make this quick."

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

The arrival of the other person was not a surprise to Sabo, but most importantly was the pouch on the person's leg, Sabo knew that designed better then most; it was his family designed and product. Sabo knew that having knowledge on the weapons on a person was important in a fight, and knowing extensively the item on "Haku's" person was a great boon in Sabo's favor. Sabo watched as Haku bows slightly to Sabo.

"It is an honor to fight another, who has dedicated their life to their master."

Sabo listened as the Haku talked, Sabo was perplexed that given the situation regarding with his "character" that Haku would assume that Sabo was dedicated, but this utterance also gave way to Haku's state of mind. Haku was blinded by faith.

So Sabo did what Sabo needed to do, he laughed.

"…You actually think that…that I am dedicated to that monster?"

Haku didn't seemed to understand the joke that Sabo was saying, his master chose him out of everyone else why did he make fun of this.

"You…you have the wrong idea between us pal…I am forced to serve that monster, if I could live I would slit his throat while sleeping."

Haku's eyes widen a fraction as he looked towards Sabo's master. Zabuza cursed Haku's blind faith in him, he also cursed himself for not teaching Haku the correct way of thinking regarding this, this boy was playing with Haku's emotions and he would capitalize on that.

"Haku…focus!"

Haku straightened slightly at her masters words, and got into a ready stance.

"If you kill me I will finally be free, I hope that you feel the same way once I kill you."

Haku's mind drew blank at Sabo's words; rage began to build in Haku's body. When Zabuza saw this he knew that Haku had a small chance at losing.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Haku's hand hovered over the pouch, and in an inhuman speed, Haku drew a weapon and threw it with extreme speed and precision. Sabo cursed and dodge roll to his left, however before Sabo was able to gain proper footing another thrown weapon entered his right shoulder. Sabo was given a reprieve after being struck and he took the time to regain his footing; Sabo dashed to a crate to gain cover from the throwing weapons.

Sabo quickly looked at the weapon in question and found that it was a slender crystal, with a blue hue; when Sabo pulled the weapon out he discovered that the weapon was, in fact, a senbon. Once he did remove the senbon however, Sabo's shoulder went numb; Sabo was confused about the affect caused by the senbon's removal but knew that he needed a plan. In that short amount of time, it was shown that speed was on Haku's side, and no amount of pushing would get Sabo to that level of speed.

Sabo now had to plan; Sabo looked over the crate to find that Haku had disappeared from view. Sabo looked left and right just to make sure that Haku wasn't on his sides, but in a spur of thought, Sabo leaped over the crate in a hurry; the reason being was that Haku appeared above him and tried to impale Sabo with those senbon, which Haku had place in between his fingers. Once Sabo had regain his footing, he swiftly pivoted to face Haku and he launched himself at the, still, prone position of Haku; Haku noticed a fraction late and found that he had been tagged in his left leg, where his pouch was. The blow left Haku with a jarring cramp; however Haku leapt away, while throwing senbon to halt Sabo's advancement.

Naruto watched this with fascination; this couldn't have been a better test for Sabo. Naruto dissected what Haku's strengths were in those few short moments. Haku had great speed and reflects, something that was critical in any battle, normally it was the faster one that won the fight, however Naruto also gleamed that Haku was not entirely and violent person, the reason being for that was because Haku's weapon of choice. Senbon were precision needed weapon, not even a novice could just pick up a senbon and use it; no… that weapon needed to be handled by a master and at this moment, it was, in the hands of Haku's. This however also showed the weakness that Haku had, senbon were used for feints and distractions they had no place in a battle field. Even with the knowledge of anatomy, the senbon was not meant for killing, and really couldn't kill unless aimed at major organs, organs that Haku was not aiming for. This confused Naruto seeing who Haku worked for; Zabuza was not called a "Demon" because of the way he looks, but for the complete destruction that comes when he is engaged in battle; for Zabuza to have Haku work under him, knowing that Haku was not aiming to kill, meant that Zabuza saw something in this person that he wanted to protect, Zabuza cared for Haku; Naruto could tell by Zabuza's tensing muscles, Zabuza knew of Haku's weakness and he was cursing himself right now.

Sabo was focused on his cover, that he took after Haku shot off those senbon; 27…27 senbon, that was the amount that Haku had thrown already, and from what he could see off of the leg holster on Haku and from what he could remember, Haku only had 23 more senbon left. The reason why Sabo said that was for one reason; on Haku's left leg was the weapons holster pouch, a holster that was design by his grandfather 60 years ago. What Sabo didn't tell anyone, even his most valued friends is where his family money came from; 80 years ago Sabo's grandfather was a blacksmiths apprentice, and when the World Government came to his grandfather's master to create a weapon that would turn the tides of the war against piracy, the master could not provide. Sabo's grandfather, an inventor, was bustling with ideas and inventions, and in his down time, and with the training he had, provided a prototype for a weapon he created. It was a flintlock rifle, the first of its kind, Sabo's grandfather wanted to take the power of the cannon and give it a handheld feel and light weight form. The World Government approved the creation of the weapons and many more that Sabo's grandfather wanted to create. His grandfather was Flintlock Marin le Bourgeoys[1].

His grandfather created the holster with a spring load mechanism, this was because he started to notice the trend that many of the marines would die because they were not able to obtain an iron ball projectile fast enough. So Sabo's grandfather created the holster with a two spring load mechanism, one spring would keep the balls in uniform position pushing along the length of the holster to a precut hole for easy obtaining, and once the row of projectiles were empty the spring would reset and the second spring would push the second row into place. A genius innovation, but pistol users found no use for it so it was dicontinued for them, however weapon throwers found this a godsend, and modified the holster.

Sabo grew up around his grandfather near the end of his grandfather's life, his grandfather still had great ideas, however Sabo's father was not the inventor like his grandfather, Sabo however had obtained his grandfather's skill and mind for ideas, and Sabo spent all his time with his grandfather, learning of the designs his grandfather wanted to create but wouldn't be able to. His grandfather also gave him the schematics for all his designs. Sabo knew every weapon that his grandfather created, and studied them religiously even.

Sabo knew that all he had to do was wait out the last senbon, and then he would attack, however Sabo suspected something was wrong.

Sabo heard the splash of a foot, and Sabo quickly jumped on his chest while kicking both his feet out behind him, kicking his cover with exetreme force, making it soar towards his wanted destination.

Haku saw the crate coming towards and jumped over it, firing off senbon, aiming with lead way to catch Sabo at a further destination. Haku watched as the senbon got closer to Sabo. The senbon would hit just as Sabo was moving before them, and the senbon would hit his calf muscles, right where there was a nerve cluster that was responsible for leg movement. Haku moved quickly when the senbon were a foot away; Haku was able to close the distance quickly and was ready to end this charade, however Haku was not suspecting to feel a hard strike, a strike that hit the entire length of his chest. Haku was also not aware that the strike had so much force; enough force to send him sailing through the air and striking the wall of the hull.

Haku's hit shook the boat and apparently weakened the tar in-between the seams of the wood joints, blocking the water from entering, slowly water began to seep through.

Haku looked around the area of their battle; the battle was taking place in the hull of the ship. Its size was not large like others, it was 60ft by 15ft by 10ft; it was not ideal for a voyage vessel, but as a residence it was fine. The hull was the storage for the ship and already had crates lined around the circumference of the ship. It gave Sabo the cover that he needed, however it was ideal for Haku; regardless what Sabo did, Haku would always have a line of sight on him, however what Haku didn't understand is what the man had grabbed and used as a weapon. The contents of the crates were not weapons what so ever, the contents were materials made for housing, wood, nails, siding, and metal piping for plumbing.

Haku's eyes widen a fraction of an inch and looked at Sabo; the man had grabbed one of those metal pipes and was using it as a faux Bo staff. Haku however could tell that Sabo was skilled with the pipe; his stance showed that he was ready for anyone to enter his area of striking. Sabo held a correct and tight grip on the pipe and was waiting; Haku groaned as he stood, it was in this moment that Haku finally took a look at Sabo. Sabo's body had some severe muscle definition, however the only muscles that could be seen were the abdomen, the calves, and the forearms, the muscle must have been condition for speed and strength. The clothing the man wore was light and flowing, however it was short enough so the material never got in his way. The blue Morning Coat was the only form of dress on the Sabo's upper body, the sleeves of the coat were rolled to the mid way of his forearms; the pants on his lower body was that of tan shorts, the ends stopping an inch above his knees, giving his legs more range because of the lack of restriction; and the black boots were ridged on the soles for more traction and stability.

The only thing that was out of place was two things; the hat, and the pistol. The hat was styled in the top hats of the rich and black in color, however the brim of the hat was not the normal flat and rounded at the edges, no this hat's brim was designed with a curve, more akin to that of the cowboy hat's brim, the round edges fit it that way also, however the hat had a center piece, a pair of goggles, the frame of the goggles was metal and shaped in a hexagon, with a blue trim, the same blue as his coat, the strap was fastened all around his hat. The pistol however was just a normal flintlock pistol, flintlock pistol were a normal one shot pistol, and the trigger was an arched metal with a cap at the end that when it struck the end piece created a spark that ignited the gunpowder in the barrel behind the iron ball.

This didn't explain why Sabo hadn't used the pistol, regardless if it only had one shot, Haku was not faster then those iron balls, and Sabo could end the fight right now. Haku's analysis took longer then expected, however Sabo was not going to look a gifted horse in the mouth. Haku's pause had given him time to think; Haku had lost his senbon when he had struck the hull at the waterline, Haku's strike however weakened the support that the hull had and it was seeping water at a moderate pace. Sabo knew that the last plan he had, he had to execute it perfectly. With Haku back on a wall he had only three place to move, left, right, or up; Sabo thought of contingencies for each escape. Sabo knew that he needed to move now; Sabo pushed off on the ground and sprinted toward Haku, and in 15ft of space the time he would get there would be short. Sabo reared his pipe back and got closer; however when Haku's hand started reaching for the holster knew that something was wrong. Sabo watched carefully of the holster; Haku may be fast but Sabo's eyes were faster, he watched as Haku's hand hovered over the holster, and at one corner of the holster, frost started to collect. Sabo quickly changed his upper body's position to move from Haku's senbon flight direction, and once the senbon missed Haku jumped away, turned his body parallel to the ceiling, cling to it and run away. Sabo saw the tracks that Haku left and there were holes in the ceiling after Haku's foot left the spot. Sabo cursed the new development and made a new plan. Haku moved into a position behind him, and Sabo turned in his run, pivoting on his right foot, and turning his body left, once Sabo was in position he let the inertia that his turn gave him and placed it into the throwing of his pipe. The pipe left Sabo's hand at a speed that Haku was not able to follow precisely, however Haku had incredible timing and jumped from the pipes path, clinging to the roof.

Haku watched as Sabo pulled his pistol from his belt and begin to aim; Haku was about to move when he noticed that Sabo aimed for Zabuza and Sabo's master. Haku began to move, however he noticed that Sabo changed his aim and found that it was higher then he originally thought. Haku heard the loud sound of the gunpowder being ignited and watched that, as soon as the ball struck its intended destination, there was a localized explosion. The explosion created a barrier of wood in front of Zabuza and Sabo's master, however this confused Haku, whatever the purpose, Haku started to move, however he noticed that there was water building on the ground below him, and he looked actually frightened for a moment, Haku decided to stay on the ceiling and began to move closer to Sabo's position.

Haku stopped when Sabo pointed his pistol at him, the pistol was a regular flintlock, there was no way that it could fire to with no repacking the gunpowder, however Haku stopped thinking that way once he remembered that the bullet caused an explosion, and there was no explosives on the ship, so that only meant that the bullet, itself, had explosives, Haku got into the fetal position on the ceiling and heard the loud thunderous ignition of the gunpowder; Haku felt the explosion, but looked to find that it was nowhere near him, he looked up to find that the explosion was above Sabo, and that water started to pour in, the water had already reached three feet and was still rising. Haku saw Sabo's figure in the waterfall near the hole in hull and knew that this was his only chance, Haku tried his best not to use his abilities, however this Sabo proved to be a crafty individual.

"You think that we are the same Haku that is where you are wrong, you have been given the right to choose, while I am forced to do the bidding of a monster. You are naïve to think that everyone is as great as you master, however if you look closely at anyone's life, you can see the monsters that they are, I am no exception, but you don't have the strength to kill me Haku, and sooner or later you will outlive your purpose for your master, and he will toss you aside." Sabo said behind the waterfall.

Haku's rage peaked at Sabo's words, to slander one's own master was acceptable, however to assume that he knew his master and calling him a monster was something that Haku could not stomach.

Haku moved his hands quickly to his hip; and the area around the hands started to change, crystals started to appear around Haku and move to the cupped hands, something slowly started to build within the space of the hands, what it was not identifiable, however soon it started to collect mass and straighten out into a crude staff, however at the end of the staff crystals continued to collect and collect, soon the end was formed into a trident, one of intricate designs of fish and waves and the tips of the tridents were formed like a fish hook's end.

"**AISU MEIKU: POSEIDON NO IKARO** (Ice Make: Poseidon's Fury)"

Haku quickly threw the trident at the waterfall, but more importantly, Sabo, who was behind it. Normally sea water negated the abilities of akuma no mi user's, however if the user is not in the water then, the abilities are only weakened, Haku knew that the torrent of water protecting Sabo would significantly weaken his technique, but that move was one of his strongest, and would not weakened to much to lose its destructive power.

Once the trident struck the water, it exploded, and the cold that the trident held froze the area around Sabo in the waterfall. Haku watched as the condensation around the block of ice dissipate and Haku looked into the ice.

Haku's fear built when he noticed that no one was in the ice.

'_That isn't probable, he was in the waterfall, there is no way he had the sudden speed to move out of its way, not when I was observing the entire wall._'

Haku's eyes traveled left and right along the wall where the ice was, Haku noticed that the technique didn't close up the hole like he planned, however the flow's pressure slowed. Haku was frantic, Haku had expended much of his strength to make that move and he was vulnerable. Haku heard the flapping of clothing and looked down. Slowly ascending to his position was Sabo, and he had his pipe in hand, however the only way that he could obtain it is if…

Haku quickly froze the water molecules in the air and created a few senbon and launched them at Sabo; what Haku wasn't expecting was Sabo to swing before the senbon was close, however this proved in his favor because sea water had flung from the hole of the pipe. Negating the senbon and giving Sabo a small amount of cover. Sabo appeared beside Haku floating only moments in the air, before gravity pulled him back down, however it was in that time that Sabo swung his pipe, and the pipe struck true against Haku's neck. The pipe had enough force to knock Haku unconscious, and Haku's body fell towards the water; Haku's body however never reached as Sabo caught Haku's body before it did.

Moments later the wall of debris was blown away by some force, Sabo saw that Naruto was still in Haku's masters' grip. Sabo watched Haku's masters' expression change from glee to shock. The master must have thought that Haku was going to win this bout, however, that momentary change in facial expression was over, and the master gleeful facial expression returned.

"It seems that I placed too much faith into Haku; this just means that I have to kill you and not receive the money."

Zabuza begun to chuckle and laugh at his admittance, however when he didn't hear any rebuttal to his admission, he became confused. Zabuza looked towards Sabo, the Tenryubito's slave and noticed that he was smirking at him, in actuality Sabo was looking at them both. Zabuza was quickly becoming angry at the slaves impudence and was calming the want to strike the shit down.

Zabuza's thoughts were interrupted when he felt his wrist being pushed, somehow the sword was being pushed away and his wrist was starting to give from the building pressure. Zabuza applied more strength to the sword's angle, but found that it wouldn't go back to its position, it was actually moving more away from the Tenryubito.

"A man should away keep his word, Zabuza. For if a man does not he is no better then the devil."

That phrase made Zabuza's body freeze, it brought memories of a person past, a person that held in Zabuza's eyes as the most strongest; this however made no sense seeing how the person that said this was not the one Zabuza held in the highest respects, this person was a noble, Zabuza was sure of it, he held the demeanor, the attitude, and the aura. That meant he wasn't that person. Zabuza watched as his sword was pushed away by the hand of the Tenryubito, he watched that once the arm was fully extended the noble began to turn. Zabuza watched obsessively, pure dread racking his entire frame as he watched the noble turn. Zabuza paled visibly when the hair color of the noble began to bleed away, the color moved like paint flowing over a sphere, only in reverse, and it came to a stop just as the noble fully turn. Zabuza's mind seemingly shut down when he caught the noble eye color change from brown to that pure cerulean blue that had flecks of purple in the iris of the eyes, those eyes that held what he felt was infinite wisdom, but also the scars of war and suffering. Zabuza's breathing began to seize as he watched the noble smile.

Zabuza knew the moment the noble spoke without the accent and said that wise phrase that he was in the presence of a person that held his epitaph of old. The only person garnered respect from him because of name alone. A person that he had heard was once a broken individual and not one to be afraid of. That person that Zabuza respected was gone. However the person in front of him might have been the same before, but now he was different, Naruto's strength washed over Zabuza… no this person before him, Zabuza did not respect… not in the same way he did before. No, Zabuza respected him because he was afraid of him.

"Sarutobi D. Naruto." Zabuza said in a whisper.

Naruto smiled wickedly at Zabuza, and changed his grip on the swords edge. The sound of metal under extreme pressure was in the air.

"We need to talk Momochi Zabuza." Naruto said perfectly calm.

Zabuza watched that from the place where Naruto gripped, arcs of electricity were skittering on the blade; the electricity did this until a large bolt traveled up the sword to Zabuza, electrocuting the man, and making him fall unconscious. Zabuza's mist form pulled together to make the rest of Zabuza's body and Naruto lifted the man's large frame onto his right shoulder. Naruto looked towards Sabo only to find him beside him, no appearance of strain on his features as he carried Haku.

"I have to say you impressed me, to read a battle like that shows me a lot, but I got to ask, her breasts, what size do you think they are under her bindings?"

Sabo pointed to Haku's unconcious form and Naruto nodded, Sabo only replied with an upturn eyebrow.

"Naruto-taichou, Haku is a guy."

Naruto's face quickly turned to grimace once he heard that, and then to disgust, and began to shake his head.

"Ahhh… I think I am going to need a drink Sabo; I had impure thoughts about another man. I'm hetero dammit."

Sabo held back his laughter as Naruto kept slapping his head as they walked out of the hull and onto the deck of the ship. The both of them leapt from the sinking boat onto the dock, and once they passed a bum that was sleeping on the dock, Naruto swiped the man's alcohol that he had on his person. Naruto drank the whole thing in one swig, and then threw the bottle at a man that was running up on them; the man must have been one of Gato's men. The bottle beamed the man and he actually flipped because of the force.

Sabo began laughing at his captain's misfortune now and began walking by his side.

"Where are we going Naruto-taichou?"

Naruto glared at his subordinate as he had to mush glee in his voice.

"We are going to Tazuna's home, they have a cellar that we can place these two, Tazuna also has a daughter that I am going to swoon into having sex with me, so I can regain by hetero status."

Sabo held a smirk at the swooning part; Sabo couldn't believe that Naruto had that much charisma and confidence.

"Do you have a problem with homo-sexuality?"

Sabo actually didn't really care what so over about a person preference, but he wanted to know his captains stand on it, just so he didn't bring up and cause problems.

"I never knew what it was growing up, I thought it was normal, seeing how I was taught by someone that was, but I'm not offended by it, however I'm also not going to defend it to another person, they have their views I have mine. Now onward, I haven't had sex in a while, and I want pussy."

Sabo shook his head at his captains childishness, there was no way that someone would have sex with someone that acted like that when sex was involved.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Sabo should have know better to doubt his captain, the two of them arrived to the house on the water, Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, was a gorgeous woman; however Naruto seemed to have known something he didn't. Before he got there, he took of his upper body clothes, and jumped into the water before knocking on the door. When Tsunami opened the door, she was surprised to see Naruto and told him she hadn't seen him since he was a child, Naruto only said a few words about needing a place to secure his prisoners, and while he did, it seemed that Tsunami was having a hard time with something, she had crossed her legs several times while speaking to Naruto, her face and body was blushing, and her pupils had dilating. Tsunami was beginning to breathe harder, until Naruto said one thing.

"Fuck?"

That one question made Sabo's jaw drop in his captain abruptness, however he was more shocked and screamed in confusion when Tsunami grabbed Naruto's hand and she whisked him away somewhere up the stairs that were connected to the living room. Sabo just looked at the area that they once were in; he should have known that he should have just believed that his captain could score whenever he wanted to. However Sabo became uncomfortable when he started to hear the repetitive sounds of thumps; Sabo began cursing his captain at being able to have sex. Sabo did his job and brought the duo into the cellar, he tied both Zabuza and Haku to pillars in different sections of the cellar; however he also knew that the both of them were devil's fruit users like his brother Luffy, and that sea water would make them powerless. Sabo left the house with two giant tubs of water, filled one with water and took it down to the cellar and went back for the other one. Sabo placed the two into the water, and noticed that their faces showed weakness, that proved that the water was working.

Sabo waited down stairs as the repetitive sounds kept going. Sabo heard both Tsunami's climax and his captains. Sabo sighed with relief that sex was going to stop happening now; however Sabo then heard the repetitive start happening again.

"OH, COME ON!"

xxXXxxXxx

Two hours past and Sabo was bored, the two of them had been going at for three hours now, and didn't they need hydration. Suddenly the sounds stopped and Sabo heard a clamoring coming down the stairs, Sabo looked to find Naruto in only his pants panting and looking slightly scared.

Naruto quickly turned a corner and hid behind an armoire and once he saw Sabo he began to mouth "run". Sabo was confused until a stark naked Tsunami walked down the stairs, Sabo however didn't have the normal reaction that men had when they saw a naked lady. Sabo's reaction was just a simple nose bleed. Tsunami was perfect, her breasts were firm and positioned perfectly, they didn't sag, and there was no stretching of the skin; the nipples were a light dark color, a darker shade of her tan skin, the nipples had harden and were the size of a gold coin, her stomach was flat and tone with small amount of definition; her groin was perfectly shaven, and the groin itself was slim with no trace of fat, Sabo could see the slight formation of her vagina, with the part of the lips.

Tsunami noticed the blood coming from Sabo's nose and smiled warmly at him.

"Did you see where Naruto-kun ran off to?"

Sabo didn't lose any stride and shook his head no.

"No he left out through the door, saying he needed to go get hydrated, or something."

Tsunami pouted slightly and bit her lower lip at the side. Sabo immediately had a reaction and began to walk away.

"Aren't you even going to ask me why he ran away?"

Sabo heard the accusatory tone in Tsunami's voice and turned to look at her, she seemed upset with him, and Sabo had no idea why.

"Hmm?"

Tsunami eyes narrowed and she stalked over to Sabo's positioned, Sabo looked left to right for a getaway but found that he could not. When she got close enough Sabo had backed up to a wall. Once Sabo hit it he looked back and then at Tsunami sheepishly. Sabo was nervous and Tsunami seemed to be able to tell, she smiled warmly at him again and Sabo just melted, that was until Tsunami thrust her hand into his shorts and applied a vise grip on his testicles. That got Sabo's attention and he looked dead into Tsunami's eyes and she applied force to his balls, and his whimpered with pain.

"Naruto did something to make me horny, whatever it was, I don't know, but he should have known better, I am a single mom, and I haven't had sex for 10 years, making me very hungry to satisfy this urge, and seeing how he has ran away and left you here, you will start where he bitched out. And I don't care how many times you cum, YOU WILL FUCK ME UNTIL I AM SATISFIED, YOU GOT IT!"

Sabo was about to decline until something kicked him in the head.

"_**What the fuck is wrong with you, this woman is not asking, she is demanding, and she has a hold on your nuts…you go upstairs and you fuck her, you got it maggot.**"_

Sabo nodded and picked her up and placed her on his shoulders.

"THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, RAVAGE ME YOU FUCKING ASS!"

Sabo sprinted up the stairs, kicking the armoire that Naruto was hiding against, making it fall on Naruto in the process. Naruto listened as Sabo hurried to the room.

"FUCK ME DAMMIT!"

The door slammed shut and Sabo was in heaven's hell, Naruto knew that Sabo would hate him in the morning, but Naruto just wanted to feel like a hetero again, however he would not believe he was gay by any measure seeing how he could not discern Haku's gender because he hid it so well, in reality he wanted to justify to Sabo why he was having sex with Tazuna's daughter.

Naruto heard above the faster repetitive thumps of the bed, and just laughed. Tsunami was a whole lot of woman, who was too horny for Naruto to satisfy, he made her cum mind you, but she wanted to cum more then once. Naruto laughed as he fell asleep; he had sex with a beautiful woman, and he had found a way to punish Sabo better then he could have thought. Naruto finally fell asleep.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

The blur of last night had affect Sabo more then he could describe, for 7 hours the woman had screwed his brains out. The first hour was all him, however when he asked for thirty minutes to recoup she used her mouth a little too affectively. This would happen four more times, the times in between longer then the last. Sabo was finally able to satisfy the devil, two hours ago, after they were done she made him cuddle, stating…

"_You fucked me; you can at least make me not feel like a whore._"

Sabo knew that he was stuck, but Sabo actually like holding the woman after they were done, Sabo knew that this was not a start of a relationship, she had just used him to satisfy and long bout of sexual repression, and that there would be no relationship.

Sabo knew that it was time to wake up from his sex induced coma, and once he opened his eyes, it took him time to focus his eyes, however once he did he found that he wanted to go back into the coma.

"So you had sex with my mom?"

Sabo looked around the barrel and found the visage of a kid, barely 11 holding his gun like a marksman; Sabo noticed that the trigger was primed and ready to fire. Sabo knew that the boy was angry and dammit he was going to go out like a man.

"Yes I did, and you know what, I loved it."

Sabo saw the narrowing of anger and the contraction of the muscle in the boy's finger.

xxXXxxXXxx

Down stairs Naruto was enjoying talking with Tsunami about a little bit of everything when he heard the sound of multiple pistols going off.

"So Kaiza had a stash of pistols?" Naruto said while nonchalantly drinking his coffee.

Tsunami chuckled at Naruto's reaction and took a sip of her own.

"Yes he did, he also taught Inari how to shoot."

Naruto "hmmed" and enjoyed his coffee, moments later Sabo flew down the stairs in a blur of speed, he had his shorts on and his coat on, but his hat was missing as well as his shoes. Multiple shots rang from the stair well and Sabo moved out of the way.

"HOW MANY GUNS DO YOU HAVE!" Sabo screamed from behind the couch in front of the stairs.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR DEFLOWERING MY MOM."

Naruto chuckled slightly and looked at Tsunami; she was red with embarrassment and held her robe a little closer to her body.

Sabo looked at the boy incredulously, and the boy stopped shooting when he saw this.

"Your mom was already deflowered by your dad, how do you think she had you?" Sabo said with a small amount of pity.

Inari stopped aiming at the defiler and looked at his mom, his white fisherman's hat covered his eyes, and his overall clad body shook his sadness. The boy looked up at her mom with sadness.

"Mom?"

Tsunami held back her sadness and nodded at her son. Inari sniffled and wiped his nose on his long sleeve shirt that he wore under his overall. Inari walked over to the fallen armoire and kicked it, the door opened and Inari reached in.

"HOW DARE YOU DIRTY MY IMAGE OF MY MOTHER THROUGH YOUR ADMITTANCE…AND YOU!… I KNOW YOU HAD SEX WITH HER TOO, YOUR SHIRT WAS IN THE BED ALSO."

Naruto choked on his coffee and spit the rest in his mouth out; the boy turned and was holding a repeat flintlock rifle. Naruto grimaced and leapt over the love seat blocking the kitchen, and grabbed Sabo as he dived for the open cellar door. Once the two of them were in, Naruto used his feet to close the door and lock it. A large shot rang out and a giant hole appeared in the door, blowing away the wood where the hole is.

"TSUNAMI, CONTROL YOUR SON!"

Naruto walked down the cellar stairs into the cellar and looked around, the cellar was separated by a bisected wall; Naruto went beyond the wall and found both Zabuza and Haku submersed in a tub of sea water. Naruto nodded at Sabo for his thoughtfulness and grabbed a chair and positioned it in front of Zabuza.

"So you both diddled the kids mom, I got to say that takes a lot of balls."

Naruto smiled at the joke and Zabuza looked up at Naruto, Zabuza showing face was ashen white, this showed that he was affected tremendously by the water.

"No I just had sex with her because your little protégé seems to be confused about his gender and I had impure thoughts, Sabo here was forced to have sex, by a woman that I made increasingly horny by affecting her hormones."

Zabuza laughed after hearing what Naruto did to the woman, Zabuza looked at Naruto's lackey to see his reaction, it seemed that the lackey went off to his own world and was giggling perversely.

"I see that he didn't seem to mind it, but the question I have to know Naruto-sama, why am I still alive?"

Naruto's face and demeanor changed to that of complete seriousness, and leaned forward closer to Zabuza.

"You still live is because I let you live; now you owe me your life for three life-times."

Zabuza sighed angrily and nodded his head, Naruto knew his past and knew that he gave the man a life pact for his service because he had saved his life on multiple occasions. Naruto smiled at this.

"Good I need you to tell me the location of the rebels; I am in need of strong men to help me on the Grandline."

Zabuza knew that a favor that seemed that small had a large repercussion attached to it, however he wanted to please this Naruto; he didn't want to be on the receiving end of his malice.

"Wait…wait, are you serious, I nearly get my ass killed, and fucked to death for simple information? Naruto I don't think this won't work."

Zabuza felt Naruto's anger in the air at this and anger transform his face. Zabuza watch Naruto turn to glare at Sabo, but Sabo acted as though nothing was wrong. Zabuza was partially amazed that Sabo was still breathing at the moment, however Naruto of old wasn't here and that meant that Naruto must have valued what Sabo had to say, somewhat.

"What is wrong with information?" Naruto said with restrained anger.

"Nothing is wrong with it, but you have the next best thing, all I can assume is that you know this person from your past, and you dangled the carrot in front of Gato to get him to come to you, this means you must trust him to tell you the truth on your request for information, so instead of going to get a bunch of yes men, why don't you just use them?"

Naruto's anger paused as Naruto thought what Sabo said.

'_He is right, the last time I made this journey I only got yes men, I had no ties to them, no reason to keep them alive, I failed because I didn't want people I care about to die, but Zabuza is different, he is extremely strong, disregarding his handicap, and his protégé showed extreme potential, maybe I should risk it._'

Naruto looked at Zabuza and gave him a half nod to see what he thinks. Zabuza however knew that given any opportunity he would decline, however Naruto was a very strong individual and in his company Zabuza would only get stronger, and then he would be able to complete his ambition; Zabuza also looked at Haku, regardless if he didn't say it or express it, that boy was important to him, however because of his inability to express feelings has changed the boy to something other then he needed, he changed himself to fit Zabuza's own dreams and became just a tool, this Naruto however was compassionate and kind, he would be able to change Haku for the better.

"What do you say Haku?"

They all looked at Haku's prone form and saw a small motion.

"Anything you wish Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza growled slightly and barked at Haku.

"No more of that crap, I ain't your master no more Haku, Naruto-sama is your captain and you will say it as much."

They all saw Haku's frown but all he did after that was nod. Zabuza suddenly shook off the ropes on his person, as well did Haku. Sabo wasn't surprised at this and seemed to expect it. Naruto smirked at this, but secretly he was frantic, he once again held people's lives in his hands and if he was not careful, he would end them.

Naruto just pondered slightly and seemed to think of something.

"First things first, Sabo?"

Sabo looked at his captain with concern and noticed that Naruto was holding back a lot of emotions; it looked as though he didn't want Zabuza to see these emotions. The main one that Sabo saw was doubt and fear.

"I am promoting you to First-Mate, you will lead the crew in times of my absence, you will protect them when I cannot, and you will lead them if I prove I cannot."

Zabuza however was a predator and could feel these emotions on Naruto, however Zabuza did not think this made Naruto weak, Zabuza had heard what the man had gone through, and having someone that knew this and has helped you was an excellent choice for first-mate. Zabuza knew that Naruto would become stronger, and Zabuza wanted to see that.

Sabo understood the underlying message, Naruto trusted him and needed him to help him, but he couldn't say it.

Sabo nodded in agreement and Naruto sighed with relief, however now was the time to put plans in affect and rid Tazuna of his problem and re-secure his legacy.

"Sabo, I want you to head out to sea and retrieve Tazuna, you are to return to the square by seven tonight, Haku, you are to abduct Gato and bring him to the square, and Zabuza you are to kill anyone that tries to stop him. I will be waiting at the square."

Zabuza felt pride that the pacifist that he heard Naruto had become was not present, Zabuza had an itchen to kill something, and it was boiling through his veins. Haku only nodded and Sabo saluted slightly. Sabo ran up the stairs and out of the house, if the yelling he heard from Inari. Zabuza and Haku walked out next, Naruto followed slowly, once Tsunami saw him she walked with him out the door of the house.

"What is going on Naruto?" Tsunami said with worry.

"Taking the island back."

Naruto walked a few more steps until he disappeared in a blur of speed.

xxXXxxXXxxENDxxXXxxXXxx

[1] Is the reported creator of the first pistol; however his last name is not Flintlock, which was just added by me.

AN: I am back my pretties and with a new chapter, you will start seeing a change in the story now that it is getting to the good stuff, Naruto has recruited Zabuza and Haku, I have vaguely hinted at what Haku and Zabuza's Devil's Fruit abilities are, but can anyone of you guess what they are?

Now first I must inform you that if you go to my profile you will see that I have written more stories, these stories will be continued I just needed to get these stories out of my head cause it was causing me not to be able to focus on this story, my main story, now an answer to a review for my story "A Families Gift"

(): You only put this so I can't confirm your name but if you are reading this listen, (1) I know that families is the plural for family, that is second grade shit, however you must not understand basic family hierarchy, there is you, then your parents, and then their parents. A family is a group of yourself, any sibling, your parents, and relatives, however for each family, you will always have two! Example your last name is Stevenson, from your dad, but your mom's former last name was Phillips, this means you come from the Stevenson family and the Phillips family. Two families JACKASS, families the plural of family, meaning two… so fuck you hater.

Now that aside, the stories structure will change to fit the chapters plot, think of this like a movie, I will be using many cinema techniques in my stories so be sure to read it and picture it like one.

In the story you will start to see Naruto's fleshing out as a person, understand this, the way Naruto acts in this chapter will not be how he normally is, Naruto is trying to rediscover his identity, and that takes time, however before the Grandline, you will come to see the real Naruto of this story.

AS people might have guessed or perceived, Naruto does have an ability, however I will not say if it is a Devil's Fruit, or Haki based, it could be something completely different (HINT).

Another note, the arcing of electricity on Zabuza's sword is not Naruto ability it is just a by product of it. If anyone can truly guess what the ability is you will get a digital cookie (WARNING: Digital cookies are known to be the leading cause of obesity, and is the leading cause of Diabetes.)


	7. The Reason's Rebirth

"Yes" Speaking

'_Yes' Thinking_

'Yes' Writing on paper/parchment/etc.

"…yes" pause in speaking/ laughter continuing, coughing continuing

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

"NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

That scream pierced through the air of the small island of Nami, that scream conveyed true dread as it echoed through the island. People of the island, concerned that it was another punishment only looked from their windows, but once they did, the only emotion that was apparent on their face was confusion. For it was Gato, the person that had ruined their way of life and their home, that made that bone chilling scream, the islanders looked to who was the perpetrator of the reason for his scream, only to find it was his own hired merc, Momochi Zabuza. The people of the island could see that Zabuza was holding back a terrible smile and that Gato himself was taken during his sleep and dragged the entire way; his state of dress was in tattered ruins and was bloodied from the drag itself. Zabuza finally reached his destination and threw Gato at a post, staked into the road, when Gato received his bearings he looked up at the post, only to find it was the stake he used to set an example of rebels. Gato, panicked began to scramble away as fast as he can. He looked forward but found that a fog had begun, but this fog wasn't natural, the fog began to collect and formed a person, features came into place and Gato found that it was Zabuza.

Gato in pure fear squealed in a high pitch manner and leaped backwards, however he was not able to see where he was going and tripped on someone's foot, Gato rolled on the ground until he came to a stop, the foot that tripped him was attached to the Noble he sent Zabuza to kill. In a matter of moments Gato gleamed that the Noble must have offered Zabuza a better offer.

"Zabuza, he is becoming a bother, rid him of his running legs."

Cold tone wafted from his words and Gato could only look up to find that Zabuza had formed into fog and traveled to him in inhuman speed. IN a matter of moments Zabuza's trademark Zanbato formed from the fog.

"Yes, Captain."

Those two words affirmed Gato's fear and in two swift strikes, Gato was holding stumps at his knees. At that time the island square was starting to have a audience, oddly enough the sight of Gato being dismembered did not upset the populace that had arrived, in fact it brought them joy; children however were turned away before the strikes were met and they were not tainted by the sight.

Gato began to blather to all those present.

"PLEASE…help me…I'LL GIVE YOU ALL MY MONEY…just help me…" Gato's voice rose and fell as he spoke.

The audience looked at Gato with so much hatred he flinched at every glare he looked upon.

"Zabuza tie him to the post and stem his bleeding, don't want him dying…yet."

Gato heard the Noble speak, and noticed that the accent he previously had was gone, and it had more of a deeper, rich tone. His words conveyed no betrayal of emotion; his words were true…to Gato he knew…this man meant every word.

Zabuza picked Gato up with one arm, showing no trouble with the added weight onto his arm. Gato was looking at Zabuza and pleading for his life, but Zabuza finally could not take his glee and smiled wickedly.

"Why would I betray my captain, he is stronger then me and would kill me, he's letting me cause pain and harm… my kind of captain."

Gato never truly took credence in the possibility of the devil or god, he was a man that got what he wanted when he wanted it, and sometimes it was through criminal actions, others through true business acumen, honest business. He wasn't a saint, but he also wasn't a true sinner, he was him, a human. A human that had ambitions, and sometimes people ambitions got in the way of his, and those people had to be cut down, but did that really make him worse then those pirates that killed for the fun of it, to see the death they wanted to see, he did it for business, just business. However all said and done, he was praying to a god he never believed in, praying for a miracle to befall him, to save him from this prospective death…but none would come.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Tazuna was confused when this teenage boy came to his boat on a raft made of ice. He was even more confused when the boy told him that Captain Naruto requested his presence. Tazuna always knew that Naruto was never a normal boy; Tazuna figured that out when he first met the boy. Tazuna was just starting out his shipping business, and he was proud of his small company, but then with the closure of the bridge being completed for the Tenryubito they needed a way to receive their precious items. Tazuna never liked the Nobles and gave them rules that they had to abide; the shipping of slaves was forbidden, if a slave was found within the contents of a Nobles item, they were set free, many of the inhabitants of his home island were freed slaves. Any items that were considered illegal in nature were destroyed and a bill was sent to the Noble that tried to send that item; Tazuna's rules had angered all the Nobles that used his service, so in retaliation the Nobles sent a Marine to handle Tazuna, sadly Nobles felt the strongest Marine should handle their plight and sent Sarutobi Hiruzen to correct Tazuna, however Nobles seemed to forget that Hiruzen was a humanist, and cared for beings. Once Hiruzen learned of Tazuna's rules he began to support him; however any direct support would bring the wrath of the World Government and the strength of the Tenryubito, so Hiruzen though of a solution. His grandson, Naruto.

It seemed that Naruto was a prodigy in whatever interested him at the moment and currently that was start up business, the boy had been able to amass a fortune in business, and he felt that he could help Tazuna.

Naruto had taken Tazuna's company to reach the far reaches of the East Blue sea and made it a wonderful business, he had all intention of being an owner of the company, but once his plans were learned, a board of directors sunk their claws into the company, in fear that they would take away the sole purpose of Naruto's plan, he sold large shares to the people of the island, giving them controlling interest, and then he would take half of the shares from them, so he had controlling interest, so nothing could happen to Tazuna's company without his approval.

Naruto was fair to everyone, all money that the company received was recycled back into the company and paid off debts they had accrued, and once that was done money was available for the employees and the citizens of the island to take from and use.

Naruto even brought Kaiza into the business to help him, but Naruto never told Tazuna where he found Kaiza.

Tazuna's ferry to the island stopped only corners from the square and even then the entire populace of the island was cramming to get passed the civilian barrier. Tazuna and his guide were given a wide berth when they arrived and Tazuna was guided to the center of the square, Tazuna reached and found that the square was surrounded by his neighbors around the brick laid on the ground giving the square a literal square shape. In the middle of the square was Naruto, hair died brown and Gato strung up to the post that once held Kaiza, the hero of the island.

"Naruto…what is going on?" Tazuna's voice shook with confusion.

Naruto smiled softly at Tazuna and walked up to him, everyone on their toes to listen in.

"I failed you Tazuna…"

Everyone was confused at that statement; Sabo, Zabuza, and Haku were equally confused.

"I failed everyone on this island! I was so stricken with grief of my past failures that I let the people I have helped and care for suffer because of my inability to cope with failure, and now I am stricken with the fear to advance. I hope to use this day as my day of rebirth, and make you all a promise that I will protect you and your interests… from the like of Gato."

The islanders mentally applauded the man in front of them, but found that they did not understand, some how the man knew Tazuna, and somehow he knew them, but they didn't understand how seeing how they never met the man, all that changed however once the color of the man's hair seemingly bled away, dripping off the hair onto the ground. Once the color was gone all that was left was blonde hair that sprung from the slick hair style and bounced to falling locks, which the man placed into a pony tail. Whispers of the name Naruto were heard throughout the crowd, which in turn turned to chanting. Naruto smiled at the people of the island and looked back to Gato with fury in his eyes. Naruto threw his arms out in front of him and small blades fell into his hands from his gauntlet, and as quick as they appeared in his hands, they were thrown with more speed into Gato, two his the major angle points on the body, the shoulders and the thighs. A blood curling scream erupted from Gato, and he began to sob, the citizens never cheered but look at the man with hatred, suddenly the front of Gato's pants became moist, from his urination.

"You have caused these people harm Gato, caused poverty and starvation, and for what? Business for business sake, not once did you show compassion to the people of this island, you taxed them until they had no more, you pushed them when they were at the edge, and then you destroyed their hope when that was all they had left. You killed Kaiza!"

Another blade entered Gato, this time at his collar bone, no arteries were harmed, but Gato felt all the pain.

Naruto walked in closer to Gato, and stood right at his ear.

"You destroyed lives for money, lives are more precious then gold and jewels, and you threw them away like a spoiled child. This island is protected, by me…Sarutobi Naruto."

The utterance of his name was said in a whisper, Gato's face changed in a millisecond, and Gato looked at Naruto as though death had arrived for him. Gato was about to speak but he felt two blades enter his body; Gato looked down and saw that the blades were coming from Naruto's gauntlets.

"Davy Jones will feast on your bones."

Gato felt his lungs filling with blood, and Gato began to choke on his blood.

"But I will be kind Gato; I will not let you suffer long."

Gato used the rest of his strength to lift his head. Naruto had walked over to Zabuza and reached out his hand, Zabuza smiled devilishly and handed the Zanbato to his captain, Naruto's frame hid the truth of his strength, and Naruto gripped the sword with little to no trouble and even maneuvered the sword around his fingers, once the sword was in position Naruto himself got into a stance, 13 feet away from Gato's position, sword position at his hip like he was going to draw.

"Let this be a reminder to the islanders, if for any reason someone tries to harm you again, you fight back! You protect what is yours; you do not wait for someone to save you."

Naruto drew the Zanbato in a speed that even Haku could not capture. Zabuza smirked at the move and thought that it was used for a flourish, but moments later a red line appeared around Gato's neck, and a second later, Gato's head fell from the neck. Many in the audience ran away from the scene and dealt with the problem of bile surfacing up on them. Naruto walked back to Zabuza and gave him back his sword.

"You are going to teach me that aren't you?" Zabuza said with wanting.

Naruto only nodded.

"I will get you started."

Naruto walked away from Zabuza and walked up to Tazuna, Tazuna was a little green from the scene he had just witness. He had heard rumors of Naruto harshness but he never expected this, Naruto stood beside Tazuna and rested his hands on his shoulder.

"I am sorry this was so late Tazuna, but you and your island are free, my crew and I are leaving now, we'll take Gato's boat in the harbor. Please send a message to granddad and tell him of the end of the message, and to send any other when he can."

Tazuna never expected the coolness to come from Naruto words, it seemed to Tazuna that Naruto was still trying to decide who he was, and Tazuna knew that, that type of discovery was the hardest of all.

Tazuna could only nod at Naruto and watched as he walked away from the crowd down to the road to the port, he watched as his crew arrived on the road, Sabo had landed next to Naruto from a roof, Haku had appeared from a block of ice, and Zabuza had reformed from his mist form, which confused Tazuna, but as Tazuna looked at them he could tell that he had met a very powerful crew, and he feared for those that stood in the way of their dreams.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Naruto had found Gato's ship and found it impressive, it was a 42-gun Royal Marine ship, the ship was around 100ft in length, 30ft in width, and the mast reached a height of 35ft in the air, Naruto looked at the captain's quarter at the back of the ship and saw that it jutted out over the water, held up by tons of triangle wood holds, Naruto was quite confuse how Gato had acquired a Marine flag ship, but suspected that it was a present from a Tenryubito, Naruto looked up at the crow's nest and found the flag for Gato's company logo.

"Sabo… go burn that flag."

Sabo nodded and leapt onto the deck of the ship from the port and scurried up the mast with impressive speed, once to the crow's nest he tore down the flag and ignited it with the combination of ale and a match.

"Zabuza, Haku, go unhitch the sails and bring them full, I will deal with the anchor."

Zabuza and Haku disappeared in their patented way, and unhitched the sails and brought them to full, Sabo began jumping down from cross beam to cross beam until he reached Naruto at the anchor pulley.

"Sabo go check the inventory down in the hold and tell me what we will need when we make port next."

Sabo nodded clearly again and disappeared in a burst of speed. Naruto looked out towards the ocean and only saw an open space. The wind was calm, but it was able to catch in the sails and soon the ship began to pull away from the dock, Naruto kept his hands on the rudder wheel and a smile appeared on his face.

Slowly the motions around him stilled and Naruto frown slightly at the appearance of the red haired boy.

"What are you? Are you my subconscious taking form, or a repressed memory that has resurfaced?"

The boy was sitting on the banister in front of the rudder wheel, his legs kicking and the brisk air ruffled his hair.

"Neither… I am a representation of your power that you have forgotten, but you are slowly gaining it back, so my appearance will become more frequent, and your spacing out will become less."

Naruto took the words at face value and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You berated me the last time for helping people; I should expect the same thing?"

The boy giggled and looked back at Naruto, however Naruto noticed that the boys face had changed, because it was his no longer, but that of a different child.

"I berated you, because… you did not help those people on Dawn Island for their sake but for your own, you had forgotten the reason a person helps another, but now I am here to commend you on your actions. To help people to help only you stagnates any growth a person can achieve, but to help them to help themselves let's people grow stronger far more then people realize. I predict that soon you will fully envelop your dream, and be whole again…and once that happens... 'we' will be whole, Naruto."

The red head kid disappeared in a wisp of mist and the world began moving again, Sabo was beside him and was patting him slowly.

"You were lost again Naruto-taichou."

Naruto shook the remnants of his fading and took hold of the wheel with a tighter grip. Those cryptic message were slowly starting to make sense to Naruto, but it seemed that he was missing a key piece to his subconscious and knew that he was close to having it; Naruto grinned at that and felt that the world would change soon.

The wind was beginning to pick up and the ship cleared the dock, Naruto felt alive again and embraced this feeling; Naruto's ears twitched when he heard someone calling out his name from a distance.

Naruto looked back at the dock and found that the dock was slowly filling up with the island people, Naruto smiled at the scene, and Sabo chuckled at that, Zabuza looked back from his sharpening of his sword and smirked, however Haku just looked at the scene with confusion.

At the front of the group was Tazuna and his family, Tsunami waved at the ship and blew two kisses at the ship, Naruto blushed slightly, something that Zabuza caught and was going to tease his captain for, Sabo just smiled with a cocky mood and turned away, no one noticing the blood dripping from his nose.

Naruto looked at Inari and saw that the boy was holding back tears for some reason; Naruto knew that the boy was haunted by the death of his father and knew that the boy was tortured and it was because he was torturing himself. Naruto turned away and thought for a moment, he knew that his next actions would cause much pain, but the end results would bring happiness.

"Sabo take the wheel and move parallel to the dock."

Confused at the request Sabo fulfilled it and took hold of the wheel. Naruto walked down the stairs of the wheel deck and look of the side of the ship, Naruto pulled a parchment from the pouch he had on the small of his back and wrote on it, Naruto looked around and found a piece of lumber and tied it on the lumber and threw it off the ship towards Inari. Inari confused was not able to catch it but instead was caught by his grandfather, Tazuna took off the note and gave it to Inari, and Inari thanked his grandfather and opened the note and read it. Moments later Inari eyes were crying and he had dropped the note, Tazuna picked up the note and read the message.

'Kaiza is alive…I will bring him back for you Inari, so that you can finally cry.'

Tazuna was flabbergasted by the note and a little angry that Naruto would joke like that, but his anger stopped and he remembered that Naruto would never joke with something this severe.

Tsunami grabbed the note from her father and read it, her balance faulted and she fell to her knees, tears fell from her eyes and she looked out towards Naruto and saw him nod and just turn away.

Naruto walked back to the wheel deck and took back the wheel. A look of question was on everyone's face but Naruto seemed convinced that he was not going to say anything.

"Once we get out to sea, we are going to go adrift until Sarutobi-sama sends us another mission, but until that happens I will start your training Sabo, and I will show you how to do that technique, and if you are interested Haku-kun I will help you too."

Both Sabo and Zabuza nodded at Naruto, Haku however was on the edge, all his life he devoted his life to Zabuza, but Zabuza quickly concede to this man, a man that Zabuza admired immensely, Haku knew that Zabuza and Sabo would become stronger for it, but with his dream to make Zabuza's dream a reality now gone because of this man what should he do.

"You don't have to decide now Haku, I know you are indifferent to me, and I suspect that you are a little lost, but know that I am here to help you if you want."

Haku looked at Zabuza and saw that he was looking at him, what was he to do when he had no purpose now… but Naruto's kind words left him with a chance, maybe he could find a new purpose.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

'_The air is different down here, then it was above. This prison is one of my own creation; I was blinded by my hatred of them, that I damaged the name of my family, the two of them are protected, for whatever reason, the general populace does not know, but then the question comes, if I am freed where do I direct my anger, my hatred, my rage. These shackles hold back my darkness, my strength. After years of service they lock me away for wanting to avenge my family, my family name…it is decided…I will chase them down and I will learn the reason for their treason, and why they are protected…and when I am done, I will…'_

These thoughts of his have repeated themselves for the last 20 years, close has the person come close to insanity, but a question lingers in his mind that stems his insanity, why was his family killed, for what purpose were they killed, and who dealt the last blow. The person had spent ten years of his life in this prison asking the same questions, and the reason for his imprisonment? He had tried to kill a comrade, but in his defense, this comrade played a part in the death of his family, but the incident was swept under the rug, as though it never happened, and that angered the person the most. Many people had a hand in his family's death and he would end those that did.

A jingle of keys caught the attention of the person in the cell, confusion racked his mind, the reason being was that no one was allowed to come this far in the prison, this level of the prison was not a wildly known place, only the worst offenders were condemned here and then they were forgotten. He was one of these condemned and he had accepted it.

The jingle finally stopped in front of his cell, the person looked up and saw the silhouette of a figure.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke always found the asking a persons name a little stupid, but Sasuke understood the reason now after his imprisonment, prison changes you and sometimes you are not the same person that you were when you entered.

"Obviously."

Sasuke heard the figure chuckle and ascertain that the figure was a male, however this person was new, he had seen all the guards that came here, mostly they came to spit at the prisoners, but this person was different, for once both his arms were metallic, and had the design that of a prosthetic limb, and his spiky hair was brown in color.

"It is good to see you, my name is Kaiza, and I am here to free you." Kaiza spoke with a calm and leveled tone.

"Really, and what can I do to help the Marines?"

Kaiza opened the door to Sasuke's cell and walked towards him.

"Sarutobi Naruto is returning to the Grandline, but this time he will succeed it seems, the higher ups wants you to capture him, they have given you full immunity from your actions here on out, meaning Sasuke, once you catch him you can finally find out why Naruto participated in your family's death."

Once the shackles on Sasuke's wrist were off, black lightning seemed to flow off Sasuke.

"I think I can do that."

Sasuke's grin spiked to a malevolent level and Kaiza walked Sasuke out of the cell.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

It was three days later when Naruto let the wheel go and let the winds take them where they wanted, Naruto looked at both Sabo and Zabuza, Sabo was standing at attention, but had started to bounce with energy, Zabuza was sitting on the banister of the side of the ship, Haku was behind Naruto watching carefully.

"First things first, Sabo you showed brilliant ingenuity with your bout with Haku, you knew your limits of your own strength and you used them to your fullest expertly, however you have been chosen as my right hand man, meaning you have to have equal strength to mine, but don't be discouraged you can achieve the same level of strength as mine it just takes work, I will be training you on the Rokushiki, this is the essential techniques of the Marines but as basic as they seem they are quite powerful."

Sabo was about to question why Naruto was teaching him Marine techniques but then remembered that Naruto's employer was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the God General.

"We want to increase your strength, if you had more speed you would have beaten Haku soundly…now what I am going to teach you first is called Soru (Shave), this is a high speed technique that is actually the bases for several other moves, now what this move essentially is, is a superhuman version of a basic human action… a kickoff."

Sabo knew that now was the time to listen and not to question, and that his question would be answered.

"Now Soru uses the kickoff to propel the user faster, envision a track runner, once they kickoff their speed is increased exponentially, but then they slow to sprinting, now Soru takes that and makes you do it ten times in the blink of an eye."

Sabo eyes widen at the thought of the speed that he could obtain.

"Now to fully use Soru you have to reimagine the way you run, when you kick off one of your knees is clothes to your chest, and then you push off it the opposite leg is there to catch you to reinstate your balance, now that is just one kick off, to do ten your body is in a constant forward position and your balance is off, making it hard to do, the first step you will be doing Sabo is finding your center of gravity while switch from kick off to kick off, once you do that we will start on you actually doing it then increasing your speed, also be sure after your done to take an ice bath, you will understand why after."

Sabo nodded and sped to the front of the ship to get started.

Naruto eyes traveled to Zabuza, and Zabuza saw that Naruto looked annoyed.

"The doctor that re-sewed your arm back did a excellent job, but that job is only for cosmetic purposes."

Zabuza cradled his arm that hung at his side.

"How did you know?" Zabuza said with pride wounded.

Naruto scoffed and sat down next to Zabuza and grabbed his left arm.

"You are naturally left handed; I remember that since our last meeting, but for some reason you are using your right hand? I also figured it out by the way your sword moves in this hand, it is not as fast, more precise, but slow, regardless that we both know that you are known as the Duel Wielding Zanbato Master, you are only using one arm, the last was, I am a fucking physician, of course I can recognize cut work."

Zabuza sighed and relaxed his arm, the muscles that were there were gone; all that was left was a limb arm with close to no definition at all.

"I can only hold things up to two pounds; Haku has been my shield for the last 12 years."

Naruto looked at Haku and held a greater respect for the boy; Zabuza must have trained him since he was little to fight off the people that came after him.

"Alright, well truth is that when Kisame tore off your arm, he destroyed the ability for the nerves to be reattached, the doctor that did this was good enough to sew your arteries back together and reattach bone and muscle, but the ability to reattached nerves are out of their ability, only three people are known to have the ability to do that, one is dead the other is a massive gambler, but luckily the last is me…so I should have your arm back to 100% use in 9 weeks."

Zabuza waited to hear the declaration of failure from Naruto, he had heard the same thing from the doctor that patch him back up, but he killed that man for that terrible new, but hearing that his new captain was a physician of that level was life changing, his need to have Haku as his shield was unnecessary, but a part of him hurt when he thought of that. Haku had been listening into Naruto speaking ever since Zabuza yelled at him on Nami Island, Haku considered Naruto a threat to Zabuza and would end him if he ever proved that to be true, but every time Haku would listen to Naruto he found himself captivated, Naruto seemed to have a ability that drew people towards him for the better, Naruto was a conflicted individual, Haku was able to gleam that from his training from Zabuza, psychology was always a fascinating subject for Haku and he could peg someone with 86.99% accuracy, and he had Naruto pegged…somewhat.

Naruto was afflicted with Survivor's Guilt, from what Zabuza told him about Naruto, Naruto's strength equals that of a Marine Admiral, however whatever happened that first time Naruto set sail for the Grandline, something had stalled Naruto, making him incapable to save his crewmates, Naruto would then try one more time, that as well was met with failure, and Naruto blamed himself, as right he was. Naruto then disappeared for a decade and then he tried that last time, everyone in the world learned that Naruto could not for some reason protect his shipmates, and Naruto was stricken with grief because of it. It had been 2 years since anyone heard anything about Naruto, and then he arrives back on the scene, creating homes for the people of Gray Terminal on Dawn Island, creating jobs, saving lives, and ousting a violent seceding in a royal family.

Zabuza told stories about Naruto to Haku, about his aloofness, his unending confidence, and his intoxicating determination, but when they learned that the person that defeated them was Sarutobi Naruto, they did not see a strong man; they saw a crippled person trying to remember who they were, and losing themselves in personality changes, it was like Naruto was trying to find that one personality that fit for him.

Haku saw Naruto like a wounded animal and all he wanted to do was help; Haku had been observing Naruto all this time and only in moments of protecting people he considered precious did Haku see the person that Zabuza spoke of. Even now he saw the determination, the strength, the power, but Naruto was not able to hold onto it, it came and went like a wind. Naruto was not able to grasp it, but Haku predicted that once Naruto did the sight would be glorious, but until then, Naruto had to be watched for the sake of Zabuza.

"Now as powerful as you were, sadly that's all there was to it. Power… I heard that you once overpowered three Vice-Admirals, but you took a lot of damage. So if you have all this power but no finesse or technique to apply where it needs to be applied, you are always going to waste that power."

Zabuza was able to stomach many things, but when someone critiqued him, he tends to lose all self control.

"What the hell can finesse do that pure power can't?" Annoyance was laced in Zabuza's question.

Naruto's frustration spiked and he glared at Zabuza, Naruto held out his hand and Zabuza complied with his request. Naruto lifted the sword onto his shoulder and walked over to a piece of leftover lumber, Naruto picked up two piece and then propped them up parallel to each other, Naruto walked over to the front of one piece, with the other piece right behind it, Naruto moved the Zanbato into place by his hip, with the point behind him, Naruto shifted his left leg forward and kept his right back, Naruto waited for the rocking of the boat to still and as soon as it did Naruto swung the Zanbato in a diagonal arc from his right leg to his left shoulder. The sound around the ship seemed to go silent for a moment and then a swift wind blew, and three inches of the tops of the lumber fell because of it.

"That was an ability that was taught to me by my sensei, with the ability to cut without cutting opens a wide arsenal of techniques. That is something that a novice can learn in battle, but let me show you the real technique."

Naruto threw the Zanbato at Zabuza's position and it stuck in the deck, Naruto grabbed a piece of lumber and returned to his position, this time, Naruto gripped the wood with both hands and had the sword in front of his with a slight angle on the lumber. Naruto waited again, and when he moved his lumber to his hip Zabuza was confused, that was until the lumber that was behind the first one sliced lateral four ways, dumbfounded Zabuza.

"A person that has trained their technique can do so much; a true swordsman can cut with anything, and knows what to cut and what not to. A person technique is limited to their imagination, I was able to cut past something to cut something behind it, science says that is physically impossible, but with the right application of strength, a person can cut the air itself."

Naruto walked up to Zabuza and placed the piece of lumber in his hands, after he did that many layers of the wood fell off, and all that was left was a make shift sword.

"Bokken, a wooden sword, used to train those how to wield a blade, but what people don't understand is that you don't need talent to wield a sword, just finesse and a imagination, you are to learn the essential of a sword, the block, the parry, and the strike, and how to use them…if you don't understand this then train harder."

Zabuza looked at Naruto with the same admiration that he held for him when Naruto was young, the boy had power but he knew how to use his power effectively, and if Naruto ever got serious a person that was a master in something would always fall to him, because Naruto was a prodigy, a prodigy of hard work.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Naruto walked away and walked back up to the wheel deck and looked out at the ocean, the sea breeze, the salt smell, and the soothing rocking always calmed him, Naruto couldn't understand why he felt so liberated when he was teaching, it always gave him strength, and he never understood why that was, Naruto looked at the front of the ship and saw that Sabo had figured why Naruto said learning the balance of the technique was hard, normally the technique was learned on solid ground and balance was never an issue, but once the person got onto a ship they found that their balance was shit, and many would die because of it, but learning how to balance the kickoff position on a rocking boat developed the person's inner ear making balanced impecciable, Naruto smiled at his crew learning something that would make them stronger, but Naruto felt perturbed that Haku did not. Naruto guessed that Haku took to his role with Zabuza literally, and now that he took that away from Haku, that Haku felt purposeless. Naruto however had an idea that would help Haku, but he needed the boy to ask for the help. Naruto watched all of them closely, taking mental notes on how to help them, Zabuza would have to learn on his own though, Zabuza was style less and his moves and the flow of his moves became a apparent and could be easily countered, on top of that the sword he had made a style useless, the weight of the sword made movement and slashes telegraphed, Naruto was hoping giving Zabuza structure would help him grow stronger.

At the end of the day Sabo had learned why an ice bath was important, the kickoff was not meant for continuous use, the power it generated was incredible, but the aftermath of that explosion of power left the muscle heavily taxed, Zabuza was different it seemed that Zabuza wasn't able to flow into a strike to a block without looking at his stance and his feet, and a parry was impossible without a partner to work with. Zabuza figured that there were many different ways to strike someone but the main ones were, overhead, diagonal, and lateral, and the transferring from one strike to another was hard for someone that generally used one after another and never in combination, the blocks Zabuza knew and had no trouble, but when Zabuza started to shadow fight, he learned that he could not place the sword right for him and would get upset, Naruto suspected soon Zabuza would come to understand the imagination part. Haku watched everyone as well, but tried repeatedly to talk to Naruto but would stop himself. Now Sabo and Zabuza had turned in for the night and asked Naruto to wake them in the morning to start the training back up.

Naruto had stood out by the helm all day and was going to keep watch, Naruto had released the anchor and they were now stopped for the night. Naruto watched the night sky and sighed in content.

"Naruto…I wish to speak with you."

Naruto was surprised how light footed Haku could be, but he still lacked true stealth.

"What is it Haku?"

Naruto looked at Haku and saw that Haku was trying his best to hold in his emotions as best he can.

"I find that I cannot find your reasons."

Naruto raised his eyes in confusion and the statement, that didn't make any sense.

"I mean, you seemed to have no reason to train them, but you just do, why?"

Naruto understood in that moment that Haku had cut himself off from his emotions, probably at a young age and he had no idea how to convey them.

"I want to."

Haku was left empty with that answer, that didn't compute with anything, that didn't make him understand, it just left him empty.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!"

Naruto looked at Haku with something a kin to apathy and Haku seemed to punish himself.

"It just that Haku; you three are already strong enough for the Grandline, but because of my presence, you will find that living would be impossible at your current level. I am a wanted man Haku, by both sides, and many people will come for me, if you are not strong enough you will die, what I am doing is giving you a fighting chance to live another day, so it is just like I said, I want to."

Haku found understanding in Naruto's words, he was making them stronger, just so they could live longer, Haku finally understood Naruto, he wanted to protect the things he considered precious, but he didn't understand what was precious to him. Haku felt completeness somehow, like he had just solved a puzzle that no one could solve before, Naruto was not capable of hurting others that he wanted to protect, so Haku didn't need to worry about Zabuza-sama.

"Naruto-sama, I am ready if you would help me."

Naruto smiled softly and stood up.

"Alright Haku, well first things first you are too loud when you move, so to help you remedy that I am giving you bells to wear."

Haku showed no emotion on his face, but did not mean he didn't feel any, and now he was feeling annoyance.

XXXXxxxxXXXXENDXXXXxxxxXXXX

AN: Merry Christmas and a happy new years everybody, you finally see how my Naruto is, it was hard to figure out his emotional state and how to explain it, but I finally did, I was playing with my 9 month old son and started to notice that he knew who I was, or better yet he recognized who I was to him, so I thought what happens if you don't understand who that person is to you and you were just trying to figure it out and then boom, Naruto cannot, for some reason, recognize who is important to him, but knows instinctively that he has to protect them. That took me so long to figure out, damn huh, and then the whole thing with Naruto's personality, a emotion like guilt has the ability to strip a person of who they are to a fundamental level, and once its gone it is never coming back, but you remember who you were but you don't remember what drove you then so you are trying to play it out and reclaim that personality, just know that Naruto current personality will not be the same, I am trying to show a metamorphosis.

Now if my readers actually care they would complain about Naruto's prodigy status, and I got to say that I love it, for Naruto to learn something that takes another person years to acquire genius, but sometimes FanFiction writers forget that just because he can learn something faster doesn't mean that as soon as he learns it, it is the most powerful thing in the story, I mean come on, I learn at a faster rate then a lot of people but I have to work twice as hard to become better at it, Naruto knowing the way of the sword is great in all, but to be able to use it at a level that is harder then other people, that takes time to learn, and that shit is a motor function, that is never going away. SO enough of my ramblings read on my readers and know that I am working hard on the next chapter as soon as you read this.


	8. A Sibling's Decision

'Damn these bells…'  
>Naruto watched Haku move throughout the night and well into the morning, Haku had come to him last night and asked him to train him, Naruto agreed, but never told Haku what he was training him in, Naruto knew that emotions played a vital part in human's lives and to strip yourself from that was inhibiting the ability to read those emotions, control one's emotions was close to impossible, but those that were able to do it had received abilities that the world could ever understand. Naruto respected Haku and his ability to use stealth, but the boy had to understand that true strength came from being able to blend into the environment not just the room. Haku's apathy would get him killed, if Haku tried to blend into a room where the environments emotional aura is anger, and his apathetic state entered the room, the people inside would know immediately of his presence.<br>Now Naruto's training with Haku was to give him an impossible task, a task that Naruto had told him many people have mastered, which in fact is a lie, no one can stop the bells from ringing, but Naruto wanted Haku to feel his emotions and then express them and once he understood that Naruto would truly teach him the ability to blend and hide.  
>It was mid day now and Sabo had gained enough experience with his balance for Naruto to enhance his training.<br>"As you felt yesterday the kickoff places a large amount of strain on your thighs, which is the most important part in the kickoff, now that you have acquired the necessary balance, here is the next thing, you have to kickoff with the same strength and speed as the initial, so think of it like this, your kick off had 50% strength and your speed is at 75%, you have to make sure that you do not ever lower the strength or speed, or you will trip your self, now a trained person can lower their speed but they can do that on will, if you do that you could fall and tear a ligament, and that is bad, so now you understand."  
>Naruto expected a quick nod and understanding but all he got was water spit into his face, Naruto wiped off the water and glared at Sabo, Sabo was however in the right, in the morning Naruto strapped Sabo to a resistance tether which weigh anywhere close to a hundred pounds, and placed him on a treadmill. Currently the speed of the treadmill was a fraction of a quarter mile an hour, but it was the strain on his legs that was horrible, but it was also that Naruto placed Sabo in that kickoff position, and the strain he felt yesterday was back with a vengeance.<br>"You will stay like that until you can kickoff at a mile per hour for ten minutes once that happens I will take you off and you can use it in real life."  
>Naruto walked away from Sabo and began to walk towards Zabuza who seemed to be moving at a faster pace then yesterday. Naruto stopped in a fraction of a second and kicked out, Naruto's kick made contact with Haku's jaw and he flew away into a wall.<br>"Nice try, you have gotten good, but you still aren't at the others level."  
>Haku growled and disappeared in blur of speed, the bells ringing loudly, when Naruto got closer to Zabuza he had to hasten his stop, because the Bokken appeared in his line of sight.<br>"I think I understand what you meant."  
>Naruto notice the sheen of sweat falling from Zabuza and looked at him expectantly.<br>"When you said that a true swordsman can use anything to cut, you meant that the swordsman is not limited to a sword, but can use anything. I think you meant that the sword is not what is important it is the swordsman. The weapon is not the sword, but the wielder."  
>Naruto smiled briefly before Naruto blurred out of existence, Zabuza felt the air divide around the back of his neck, and instead of moving his body, Zabuza swiftly moved his Bokken to block the strike at his neck.<br>"The sword is just the extension of the swordsman; a piece of bamboo can have the same cutting effect as a sword if in the right hands. Now answer me this and I will train you more, what limits a swordsman?"  
>Zabuza pushed against Naruto's Bokken and dropped his sword, Naruto saw this and was about to punish him but at the last moment, Zabuza caught the sword in the back of his knee and once he did that Zabuza did a one handed back flip and once his knee was in the right place, Zabuza curled at an angle slashing diagonally, Naruto was taken surprise of the move that the strike got to close for comfort, Naruto returned to his initial stance and grabbed the hilt of the Bokken with his left hand using the right as the faux scabbard, in a flow of movement, Naruto quick drawn, the move struck Zabuza and seemingly rippled the air around him, Zabuza fell to the ground gasping for air and needed help up, Naruto saw Haku appear in a matter of moments and lifted Zabuza on his shoulder.<br>"That was called the Initial Draw, like with samurai, this technique was created for the single draw battles, but as you can see it is a little overpowered. Luckily we are using Bokken or you would have been cut in half. The move relies on the draw, the more power you use on the draw, the more that power is transferred to the strike, and if you are like me, you can release enough power to cause a vacuum effect on your opponent."  
>Zabuza grinned at the explanation and felt that this move could be more powerful when using it with zanbatos.<br>"I know what you are thinking Zabuza but the Initial Draw is only meant for katanas, which is not to say you can't use the move for Zanbato, you just have to change everything about it."  
>Zabuza nodded in understanding and got to work, Haku noticed that he would impede Zabuza's progress if he hovered so he went back to trying to move without making those shitty bells move.<br>Naruto carefully watched how all of them were pushing themselves and all Naruto felt was pride and happiness, however Naruto mood soured once he heard that all familiar chant.  
>"Youth!"<br>Naruto in a panic looked all around the sea until he found the offender, a little row boat was skipping across the water with ridiculous speeds, and Naruto caught sight of the eyesore green, and yelled for everyone to get into battle formations. Quicker then any had seen all three rushed down to the guns in the hull and waited for orders.  
>"Aim for that rowboat, blow that shit to pieces."<br>Sabo was concerned for his captain, he had never heard dread in his voice at this magnitude, but he obeyed, all three of them aimed and fired, and continued to fire, what they didn't expect though was the boat to start skipping and jumping side to side, Sabo's aim was perfect and he fired to where the boat would land and instead of skipping that damn rowboat flipped sideways over the strike, now all three of them were completely annoyed, Haku not showing it though, began firing in tandem, one after the other, however all cannons missed and the rowboat was upon them, the boat, finally jumped high into the air, turned upside down and a figure dressed in green fell from the boat and landed squatted on the boat, the boat then fell, but was caught by the figure.  
>"Naruto-kun, I wish to thank you for your help in keeping my body in peak physical condition, I did not think I could do those moves with a rowboat, but your help I have succeeded."<br>The three crewmates arrived on deck to see their captain getting a painful hug from a man glad in a green jumpsuit, that had orange greaves on his shins, a flak jacket with a leaf symbol stitched into the material, the jumpsuit had artistic flourish in dark green pinstripes that flowed like an ocean, but it was the feature of the head that scarred them, his hair was cut into a bowl cut, and he had giant eyebrows. And a shiny ass smile.  
>'I was trying to kill you, you plague.' Naruto whispered.<br>The man dropped Naruto onto the ground and gravitated to the three.  
>"I am Maito Gai, elite guard to Sarutobi Hiruzen; I come baring a mission for Naruto and his crew."<br>Naruto groaned and hated when Gai got too serious with his missions. Gai once rushed himself and Konohamaru through a fair so he could meet a deadline, and because of the speed both Konohamaru and Naruto were treated for severe whiplash.  
>Naruto grumbled at the man and pulled out a pistol and began shooting at him. Gai shifted and move from every bullets path, even ducked, leaped and flipped out of the path. The crew were slightly dumb founded that their captain could read and shoot at the same time, and if it weren't for the green demons speed would have got the bastard.<br>Naruto tossed the scroll overboard and tossed away his pistol and shot some more.  
>"Your youth is in full flame Naruto; I thank you again for your help in my training soon I will accomplish my dream."<br>After Gai said this he threw his row boat into the water and leapt into it. As he pulled away Naruto ran to the side of the boat.  
>"YOU STILL HAVE TO BEAT YOUR RIVAL GAI!"<br>The crew was confused as why Naruto said that, it wasn't until they heard a voice fading away.  
>"CURSE YOU NARUTO AND YOUR HIP WAYS!"<br>Naruto grinned victoriously and walked to the helm; Sabo moved to stand by the helm as well and looked at Naruto expecting an answer.  
>"Gai has an ongoing rivalry with a former teacher of mine, his rival would always lose in fights with Gai, but Gai's rival won when he became the liaison for Sarutobi-sama, Gai tends to be annoying, and so when I want to fluster him I rub it in his face."<br>Sabo laughed slightly and continued to stand next to his captain. Naruto turned his head to look at Sabo, which Sabo turned to look at him, Sabo was smiling, but then so did Naruto, but it wasn't a kind smile, it was the devil's smile itself. Naruto sharply pointed at the treadmill, and Sabo groaned all the way back to the torture contraption.  
>Naruto snickered at Sabo's reaction as it was the same as his when he was strapped to that damnable thing; seconds later Naruto heard the jingle of Haku's bells and turned to look at him. Once Naruto turned though Haku seemingly blew a gasket and screamed loudly, Naruto smiled proudly when Haku turned his back and shook his head in joy.<br>"Naruto-sama, would it be alright if I took these off, I have been losing my temper frequently and I need to meditate."  
>Naruto just nodded at Haku and watched him take the bells off in a hurry and threw them against the banister. Naruto saw this scene and was surprised what a little frustration could do for a person; it was the same for him when his grandfather trained him on his emotions.<br>Haku walked away from those infuriating things and walked over to his master, who was currently trying to perform the quick draw. Haku could see that Zabuza was having a tough time, Haku could only speculate was that Zabuza's movements were conditioned for the weight and length of a Zanbato, and to suddenly change that was causing him complications.  
>When Haku got closer he expected Zabuza to turned, Zabuza had always known when someone was close to him, but when he didn't turn Haku called out to him.<br>"Zabuza-sama."  
>Zabuza visibly flinched at Haku's voice, for Haku to sneak up on him has been impossible sense he trained the boy, Haku had somewhere confused his stealth with destroying his presence, even his emotions, for the boy to sneak up on him was incredible.<br>"Haku that was the first time you snuck up on me, good job."  
>Haku never heard Zabuza praise him, even though it was begrudgingly, it was still praise; the question though was how did he do it, Haku paused it thought and decided that he had to review everything that has happened, maybe then he would find out.<br>Naruto saw the interaction with the former master and apprentice and smirked, it would take Haku awhile to understand that when he was frustrated it matched the environment emotional level around Zabuza, and seeing how the boy naturally erased his presence even someone as skilled as Zabuza can be snuck up on. Naruto looked at his crew and knew that their strength would only become greater, but Naruto also dreaded the end of their journey on the East Blue, the Reverse Mountain, that was always the last place his crews had seen. Naruto quickly shook his head and rid the depression, it was time for another mission and this time it was to the small island Gecko Island, and the destination was Syrup Village.

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Two Days Later

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Once the ship pulled into the reef of the island Naruto released the anchor on his ship and let it fall to the bottom, Naruto walked onto the deck and walked over to the life boats.  
>"Sabo and Haku you will be coming with me to the village, Zabuza you will stay here and guard the boat, if anyone tries to board the boat and steal it, cripple them, I will deal with them when I come back."<br>Sabo cringed at what Naruto had said, but it was the way that Naruto said it that cause much confusion, Naruto didn't say it as though he was going to end them, but in another way that Sabo didn't understand.  
>Zabuza grinned viciously and nodded slightly at his captain's commands.<br>"When I return I will start healing your arm, alright?"  
>Naruto didn't have to see Zabuza to see that he had smile and nodded, Naruto and the others were in the boat and Zabuza released them from the boat and watched as they fell to the ocean. Naruto grabbed the oars and began to paddle to the shore.<br>"Sabo once we reach the village I want you to learn all that you can about current events, especially what has befallen the Hargreaves's, understood?"  
>Sabo grinned excitedly, this was going to be his first mission as Naruto-taichos First Mate, and he didn't want to fail him. Naruto felt pride of Sabo's commitment, but his pride disappeared when he looked towards Haku.<br>"You will hear things Haku; that is not meant for other people... I must tell you that my loyalty to Sarutobi Hiruzen is more then just an employer... if you utter anything you here in there, I will consider it an offense to Hiruzen... and I will kill you myself... Hiruzen's secrets must remain that."  
>For Haku to feel the chill of dread roll down his spine was a first for him. True Zabuza scared him, but his fear was more tied on a person level, but Naruto... when the aspect of Haku betraying the secrets of a powerful man like Sarutobi was mention, Naruto changed his emotions faster and more potent then Haku had ever felt. Naruto was in complete control of his emotions and he project with mastery, Haku knew at that moment that was what was missing from him, he had no control of his emotions, because he in fact snuffed them.<br>Haku looked at Naruto and only nodded, Naruto accepted this and the both of them walked up a path of the shore that head north instead of west into the village.

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Sabo knew the moment that he stepped into the village that he was conveniently set into the village by his captain, Sabo guessed that Naruto didn't want Sabo to learn something, normally a person would be max about being hoodwinked but Sabo felt content, Naruto was hiding something from him, maybe not in the kindness way but one that worked, however Naruto was going to learn all he can. Naruto just let a hungry person into a bin of pigs, secrets would be learned. Sabo first needed to know what connection did Naruto had to the Hargreaves and why Naruto needed to hide it; Sabo looked at the bar near the entrance of the village and knew he would find what he needed. Sabo walked cautiously into the bar and took in everybody, Sabo noticed right off the back three kids hanging around this teenager, it wouldn't have been weird if the teen wasn't embellishing at the moment.  
>"So I see this giant fish in the water and I know I have to catch it to prove to my relative that I can be a mighty sea warrior, I wait days for it and the wild life let's me blend into the environment, and when I set the hook the fish was that of a monster, a giant fish with crustacean legs..."<br>Laughter halted the person's story-telling to the patrons that chose to listen, everyone in the bar looked over at the person responsible for the laughter and found a stranger they never met before.  
>Sabo looked at the crowd that had gazed at him and couldn't help but laugh.<br>"You...you all … believe that story!"  
>Sabo had to reign in his laughter when the patrons stared to glare, but it wasn't at him, it was at the storyteller, the people moved so Sabo could get a better look and found that the storyteller was just a teenage boy, but this boy had curly hair and a long nose, the boy started to sweat bullets until he garnered some courage and pointed at Sabo.<br>"Well if this is a made up story what happens next...huh?"  
>Sabo could see the pride that enveloped the boy; he seemed to think that he got Sabo somehow.<br>"The story goes that a 12 year old boy is fishing at his island fishing hole, fishing for the devil of their river, he waits three days to capture it and when he does he takes it to his village square to show his villagers, but to show his Aunt that he is capable of handling the life that he is leaving her for, she grants him permission and he goes off in hopes of becoming a hunter."  
>Everyone turned to look at the boy only to find that he had disappeared, as well as his trio that followed him.<br>Sabo just laughed at the good nature of the teenage boy and walked up to the bar, the barkeep seemed to grumble about something, and rubbing the glass he was cleaning with vigor.  
>"Be careful, if you rub any harder you won't be able to use that glass."<br>The barkeep looked down at his hands and sighed.  
>"Sorry, its just that boy... his father used to be a fisherman on this island, but then a long time ago a pirate crew came onto this island, and his father left with them and has never came back once, the boy started lying when he was young, we thought it was fine because the boy had lost his father and then his mother, we had no idea that it would be like this, it has gotten so bad I fear that the day comes that he actually tells the truth no one would believe him."<br>Sabo looked out the window and found the boy a long distance away chatting at the trio that was with him.  
>"I think the boy is just lonely, and his lies bring people closer to him..."<br>The barkeep grunted in approval and set the glass down.  
>"Now, stranger... how can I be of help?"<br>Sabo smiled at the barkeep and sank closer to the bar.  
>"I am here with my employer, and he has sent me to learn what I can, but... that was a diversion to keep me from learning something about him, I'm really here to learn how my captain and the Hargreaves's know each other."<br>The barkeep understood why the man lowered himself; the topic of the Hargreaves to the people of this village was a touchy subject. The man looked left and right and stood up straight.  
>"Lou, handle the bar alright?"<br>A man at a piano raised his hand in acknowledgement and the barkeep took Sabo into the back room behind the bar. Sabo followed the barkeep into the back room, that was just a storage room for booze, and in the middle was two chairs and a table, the barkeep gestured to one of the chairs and Sabo sat down.  
>"First off, who is your captain?"<br>Sabo got situated and saw that the barkeep brought some cups to the table and poured drinks for the both of them, a glass was handed to Sabo and Sabo downed the drink.  
>"Naruto."<br>Sabo saw the barkeep freeze in shock and set the glass down and took the booze back to its self, and when he came back, the man had a look of seriousness.  
>"First, you are correct to think that your captain is hiding something from you, but seeing how Sarutobi Hiruzen is a benefactor for this island, my silence on his endeavors have been bought, but what I can tell you, is that Naruto is much more to Sarutobi-sama then you might have been informed, now Naruto and the Hargreaves know each other because Sarutobi-sama's business ventures with them, the Hargreaves have a daughter that Naruto cares for dearly, like a younger sister, but last I hear that they were not in speaking terms for some reason. The only reason I can think you all being here is because, two years ago the Miato and Sumai Hargreaves died in a boating accident; which is I find suspicious, seeing how the Hargreaves were Ship Building experts."<br>Sabo suspected that Sarutobi and Naruto had much more involved then any said, but what could it be... the truth was Sabo knowing that Naruto wasn't just an employee made the relationship the two had made more sense, but whatever it was, Sabo wouldn't learn yet, and the barkeep was correct in his suspicions, if you are an expert at something you usually don't make a life threatening mistake like that.  
>"Did anything else happen before the Hargreaves unfortunate accident?"<br>The barkeep paused his movements in thinking and looked left and right.  
>"Yeah they hired a new butler for Kaya, the poor girl has always been a fragile little thing, and I think his name is Kurahadol."<br>Sabo took the name and filed into his "people to look up" place, and thanked the barkeep, and left a little money for him, the barkeep was shocked that a person would pay him just for the information, and he stopped Sabo.  
>"Wait there is more... Naruto came here with Sarutobi about 20 years ago, Naruto had dreams about becoming a doctor, and Naruto became Kaya's physician, whatever is wrong with her, it must have happened when Naruto lost communication and stop being her physician."<br>Sabo took the information and threw a little more money down; that last bit of information was a smoking gun, and that little bit of information, Naruto needed to know. Sabo left the bar and looked for anybody that would be willing to help him, Sabo however stopped in his movements when he felt the eyes of a couple of people on him, Sabo looked around until he pinpointed where the eyes were coming from.  
>The four people that were watching the new stranger in the village suddenly became nervous when the stranger stopped moving and began to look for something. The leader of the quad screamed silently when the stranger suddenly disappeared and the feeling of a sharp point on the back of his neck became apparent.<br>"It is not nice to spy on people."  
>The trio of kids screamed girlishly and ran away.<br>"WERE NOT WITH HIM..."  
>"HE'S A PERVERT..."<br>"HE FORCED US TO SPY..."  
>Sabo felt sweat fall from his brow in embarrassment for the teen.<br>"TRAITORS!"  
>Sabo felt the teen sob while he held him in place; Sabo sighed in disappointment and sat next to the teen.<br>"Whatever reason possessed you to spy on me, kid?"  
>The kid in question turned at Sabo with a fiery determination in his eyes.<br>"I stuck around to hear what you had to say."  
>Sabo became confused when he heard this because he could have sworn he saw the teen a large distance away from the bar when he began to ask questions.<br>"That is impossible, I saw you chatting up with those kids and you were several yards away."  
>The determination disappeared and all that was left was the look that you get when you are caught in a lie.<br>"Fine! I ran away when you ousted my lie and was talking to the kids about sneaking back in to listen to you and the barkeep talk, I was able to and when I heard the Hargreaves being mentioned I snuck back out and waited for you to appear, if you have intentions of hurting Kaya, I will...kick your ass."  
>Sabo sat there looking at the boy, without a ounce of emotions, and the emotion he did show ended up planting itself in the form of a fist on top of the teens head.<br>"First, lying is bad...stop doing it, and second... you can't just make claims that you're going to kick my ass when you are a coward."  
>The teen turned and glared at Sabo with so much intensity that if were anybody else (children) they would run away.<br>"What makes you think that I am a coward? What right do you have to call me that?"  
>Sabo saw the teen get closer and Sabo smiled softly that caught the teen off guard and then Sabo quickly moved as though to hit him and the teen flinched.<br>"Because... only cowards lie like you do, and when they lie to themselves and turn away from a fight, it just proves it."  
>Sabo's words seemed to have an effect on the teen, as the boy turned away from Sabo and seemingly shook with sobs.<br>"A strong man doesn't need to lie, his actions should always show his true intentions, lying really should only be used when you know it is going to work and it is to save a life, if those things aren't met then you are a coward."  
>Sabo patted the teen on his back and walked away from him, Sabo look north to where he last saw Naruto and Haku walking and was beginning to walk away when he saw Naruto walking down the hill in anger and Haku keeping his pace. Sabo knew something was wrong and jogged over to his captain. Sabo turned his head back and called out to the teen.<br>"Remember what I said."  
>Sabo caught up to Naruto and found his emotions erratic.<br>"Naruto I learned something I think you should hear."

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Naruto and Haku

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Naruto felt a pang of regret when he sent Sabo away, but if Sabo would to learn of his relationship with his grandfather, then the friendship they have cultivated would be at risk. Naruto knew that any knowledge about him or his grandfather was worth a lot of money and seeing how he was taking a person to meet someone that knew intimate details about him and his life, Naruto had to take precautions, even if that meant threatening one of his crew mates.  
>Naruto looked back at Haku and found that Haku was looking as though he was having an epiphany and Naruto could only guess what that was about. Naruto watched the forest clear away and on top of the hill was a large mansion, the place was guarded by an iron fence, which if Naruto recalled must be a new installment. Naruto and Haku walked up to the gate and Naruto tried to push it open, but come to find that it had been locked, Naruto sighed in annoyance and grabbed the lock and applied strength and shatter the lock block. Naruto turned to Haku and moved his head away from the house.<br>"Haku, I want you to infiltrate the house and search through all the rooms and any documents, find the last correspondence from the Hargreaves and bring it to me."  
>Haku nodded and disappeared in a blur of speed, moments later the main door to the mansion was opened and out walked a man dressed in a formal suit, black in color and a black neck tie, eye glasses on his face and his black hair slicked back, which had a hint of green to it. Naruto evaluated the man with his walk and found it off somehow, as though the man was trying to walk against how he normally does. When the man got closer Naruto felt the man surrounding aura and found it the opposite as it should be in this situation; Naruto didn't think anymore about it until the man was about six feet in front of him, and Naruto's fighting skills picked up that this man had a battle filed of six feet all around him; Naruto became concerned that this man had a striking field of six feet, and more that the man had any.<br>"May I inquire why you felt the need to break onto this property?"  
>Naruto felt the strained control on the man's voice and immediately knew that this man was not all he appeared to be.<br>Naruto however wasn't here for him and would not take his questioning. Naruto pushed passed the man and continued to walk, Naruto heard every reprimand the man spouted but did not in fact listen or obey, Naruto was here for one reason and Naruto knew where that reason was.  
>As soon as Naruto entered the house he turned right sharply and pushed open the doors that were blocking his path.<br>Once Naruto entered he saw the reason he was here, sitting on the extended window pane, covered in a blanket and reading a book, her pale blonde hair had reached her shoulders, and her skin had become quite ashen since the last time he saw her.  
>"What are you doing inside; I thought your doctor's orders were to be outside?"<br>The girl heard the voice but once the she heard about the outdoor bit she quickly turned to find the person she cared for almost as much as her deceased parents.  
>"Naruto-niisan."<br>The girl launched herself out of her seat and into the arms of Naruto, and hugged him, Naruto couldn't let the smile on his face fall, Naruto dropped his little friend and glared at her with crossed arms, and the girl turned away and looked nervous.  
>"Care to tell me why you stopped writing?"<br>The girl shook her head and turned away from Naruto, but once she did Naruto lunged at her and began to tickle her sides; this was the scene that the initial butler came in seen, his anger seemingly spiked and Naruto paused in his sibling fun when he felt this.  
>"Though I am happy to see you, I have business to conclude with you, and it needs to be in private."<br>The girl heard Naruto's tone, and understood it, but...  
>"Naruto you can say anything in front of Kurahadol, I trust him."<br>Naruto looked the identified Kurahadol and glared slightly at him.  
>"You may trust him, I don't Kaya."<br>Kaya poured slightly at Naruto and shook her head.  
>"He stays."<br>Naruto secured his anger down when Kaya said this and eyes shifted towards Kurahadol.  
>"Fine... I have come to learn the reason why your parents have missed three of the annual meetings, what happened to them?"<br>Naruto notice the grave look on his little sister's face and knew the truth.  
>"It appears the rumors of their death are in fact true... as proxy for Sarutobi Hiruzen I will have to follow the doctrine set by your parents and mark you as their heir."<br>As soon as Naruto mentioned Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kurahadol visibly paled, confirming Naruto's suspicion of the man, Naruto was about to speak again but was interrupted.  
>"Ok... you can speak to Kurahadol."<br>Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked at Kurahadol.  
>'So you have wormed your way into Kaya's life so deeply.'<br>Naruto began to walk away, which confused Kaya, she again said Naruto should talk to Kurahadol.  
>"No."<br>Kaya was surprised at the anger that was imbedded in Naruto's words.  
>"Naruto, he is my guardian, and he handles all the business."<br>Kaya never once felt Naruto's glare, but she now knew that it wasn't something she wanted to experience again, all his disappointment and resentment was in that glare.  
>"That is irrelevant... your parents left a specific guardian in charge and it was not this person, if you have a problem with that then I will have to conclude this meeting incomplete and we will finish it some other time when you can accept my terms."<br>Naruto watched Kaya bristle at the comment and Naruto knew she was wrapped around the butler's finger.  
>"It will always be the same, I trust Kurahadol and you will just have to deal with it."<br>Kaya saw the betrayal in her brother's eyes and began to suspect that she failed some type of test.  
>Naruto turned away and walked out of the mansion with strength resounding in each step; a few steps past the mansion's gate Haku appeared in a sheet of ice on the ground and looked as though he jumped out of the ground.<br>"Naruto-sama your suspicion was sound; Kurahadol didn't exist until two years ago..."  
>Haku watched Naruto and saw that the anger he had seemed to grow, it was if his info added fuel to the fire, the two continued to walk and they walked past the village to the shore where their life boat was, moments later Sabo walked up to them.<br>"Naruto I learned something I think you should hear."  
>Sabo noticed moments later of what he heard about Kaya's sickness that he began to sprint to the boat, in his anger Naruto sped right past the boat and was running across the water.<br>Haku and Sabo stopped at the shore and watched as a few seconds later the surrounding light turned into a strange red color when it was midday.

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Zabuza saw the three return in a hurry, but he didn't expect to see his captain run across the water like a water strider, pass up the boat and sink into the water, and moments later a large energy backlash hit the boat and knocked Zabuza off his feet and rocks the boat harshly. Zabuza was baffled at the level of power that energy had, but Zabuza also noticed that Naruto was not coming back to the surface, Zabuza cringed at the pain that he was about to experience but Naruto needed to live, Zabuza ran full tilt at the side of the boat and jumped high into the air and plummeted into the water.  
>The initial pain hit him like a fire but it slowly waned and Zabuza searched the water, once he found Naruto he rocketed to his position as though water didn't stop him or prohibit him. Zabuza was able to grasp him before the pain hit him again. Zabuza correct he body and aimed for the spot where the water and the surface hit the boat. Zabuza moved the water away from him and seemingly flew through the water. Darkness was edging in his sight and knew that any prolong exposure to sea water would bring more complications for him.<br>Zabuza exploded out of the water just in time for Haku to set foot on the deck, once Haku saw Zabuza, Haku called out to Sabo to grab Naruto while he grabbed Zabuza. Sabo vanished and appeared by Naruto's side and grabbed him and landed softly onto the deck, once he did he did the basic medical testing he knew and checked on Naruto status, seeing that his captain was unconscious Sabo walked over to Haku and Zabuza, but once he did he regretted it immediately, strangely in fact Zabuza's skin had changed in color and even formed scales on his skin, and if Sabo saw correctly gills had appeared underneath his bandages and appeared just beyond the edge of the bandage. Sabo was in complete shock at what he had seen this however was what Haku seen as soon as he turned to look at Naruto.  
>Haku cringed when he noticed Sabo had noticed Zabuza's skin, but Sabo showed no other emotion except shock, Haku watched as Sabo shook his head and walked over to Zabuza's body and did the same tests. Zabuza seemed to be affected by the same fatigue that plagued devil fruit users, like Luffy, but his was a severely lessened impact then Luffy's, it must have been because of his bodies genetic make-up.<br>"Zabuza is going to be okay, just give him a couple of hours and he should be up, if I had to guess he will be up before Naruto, I think until then we should go over what we learned so we can tell Naruto clearly."  
>Haku was not fazed by Sabo's demeanor, to Haku this could be a ploy of some kind, but decided that it would be best to go along with it.<p>

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A Day Later

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Naruto opened his eyes to find himself on his ship, but Naruto noticed a key difference was that, time seemed to have slowed around him, not like before when it stopped but slowed to a snails pace. Naruto looked around to find the boy that would always be around when he faded out like this and sure enough the boy was sitting on a chair wagging his feet and watching Naruto.  
>"This isn't what you believe this is... it is something completely different. You feeling out of place in the world isn't because of your condition, no...no Naruto it is something to be celebrated...your mind and body are finally syncing with each other, and soon your abilities will return, my power will return Naruto, this is an inevitable truth, you can't rid me from the world, you made me, you gave me an identity when I had none, I am just energy... power. You gave me life Naruto, and when the time comes I will give you many have only wished for, the power to affect the world... why don't you say my name Naruto, I guarantee you will be much stronger for it...say my name, Naruto...SAY MY NAME YOU GAVE ME!"<br>Naruto had watched the boy burst into a red light and wash over him, it soon came apparent what and who the boy was, it just seemed to Naruto that he didn't want to admit it, the true reason for his misery and suffering; Naruto soon felt as though the whole world was underneath his fingertips and with just a flick of his finger he could destroy a mountain... the boy wanted Naruto to say his name, the name that Naruto gave him, Naruto just smirked, funny how a little name can change everything you knew and thought.  
>"Calm down Kurama, I didn't forget my promise to you."<br>The world sped up and time righted itself out, Naruto stood up and walked out of his quarters and onto the deck helm, Naruto looked out at the shore line of the island and caught sight of a couple of pirate ships, Naruto eyes leveled the jolly roger and Naruto's anger spiked, Naruto soon heard the pitter patter on his deck and knew his crew had assemble behind him.  
>"What did you learn while on the island?"<br>Naruto's tone left no room for hesitating and Haku decided to go first seeing how the potential info that Sabo had would make his unnecessary.  
>"On my search of the mansion, I found several copies of a will, some from Kaya, and the other from the Hargreaves. Both state that upon their deaths that Kurahadol is to become the heir of their estate. However these were just first drafts, and they seemed to have been revised several times to close any loop holes."<br>Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger, Naruto the expanded his senses all over the village and the areas surrounding it, Naruto had found Kurahadol and several others seemingly in a battle, and Naruto even recognized two others. Sabo quickly braced himself; he knew that his information had a potential kill the messenger effect.  
>"I talked to a barkeep on the island and he said that sometime after you lost contact with Kaya she had started to become ill, this might have been around the time that the Hargreaves hired Kurahadol."<br>Sabo slightly edge away from the surrounding area, but it was for not as Naruto didn't go on a rampage or anything and just kept his eyes on the island.  
>"Zabuza, take Haku and sink those ships, don't let anyone step foot on that shore, don't kill them though; Sabo you are to go inland and stop any pirates that reach that far."<br>They all nodded and were about to leave but Zabuza stopped slightly and looked back to Naruto.  
>"Captain what are you going to do?"<br>Naruto kept his gaze on the shoreline when he heard the faint sounds of battle.  
>"Stretch my limbs."<br>Soon as the crew heard this, Naruto seemingly walked through space itself and disappeared, the rest of the crew knew that they were finally going to see their captain use his strength and rushed as fast as they can to the shore.

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Luffy aimed a punch at the elusive Kurahadol, who had just been identified as Kuro the captain of the Black Cat pirates, Luffy didn't care much for the thinking or judging of a person only that this person had hurt someone that Luffy liked and that was enough to declare the man an enemy. Luffy however was not fairing well with the man being as fast as he was, Luffy was just about to go faster when his sense caught something about to appear between them. Luffy disengaged and leaped back, Luffy was correct in his movement, because a second later a large sounding boom generated from the area he was at, and then suddenly cracks appeared and implosion of energy pushed any and all things in the area of it away. Kuro had been the closest and the g force that the implosion created flung him away. This implosion caused a lot of dust to be kicked up around the area and once the area cleared all that were in the area saw a imposing figure. Once Luffy saw who the person was he back away slightly but then breathed in and yelled.  
>"NARUTO-SAN!"<br>Naruto turned to the voice and smiled at the figure, Luffy really knew how to destroy a dramatic entrance. All those in the audience were shocked at the person in front of them, however more so was Zoro, Luffy's first mate. Moments later Kuro appeared in front of Naruto a few meters away and just looked the man up an down with a look of smugness.  
>"I thought you ran with your tail in-between your legs, coward?"<br>Naruto leveled a glare at Kuro and Kuro just smiled a tight grin at Naruto, Kuro kept his eyes on Naruto though, he had heard stories of the man from Kaya, and knew that the man was strong, but it wasn't something that he should worry about, that all changed however when Naruto disappeared from his line a sight in a blink of an eye, and then a fist impacted his stomach with strength that Kuro had never faced before Kuro was forced to re-evaluate his thinking. In that one punch Kuro lost the ability to breathe for a while and his movements were halted. Naruto walked away from Kuro and walked over to Luffy. Nami watched as Luffy's expressions sobered up and he calmed down dramatically.  
>"My grandpa told me about you, he said you are strong, but how strong you are no one knows, I'm going to prove to you I can be the Pirate King, and I will make you eat your words."<br>Naruto just smiled at Luffy and patted him on his shoulder.  
>"That is good to hear Luffy, but I came by to tell you that I am now fighting that ass."<br>Naruto pointed back to Kuro, who was struggling to keep his balance, Luffy's expression stilled and all he did was nod. Naruto nodded at Luffy and his calm demeanor and turned to look at Kuro, who had finally been able to place a foot underneath him to gain balance.  
>"You know I have been struggling to remember the person that I was, I know that I can never be that person again but it doesn't mean I can't be like him. Violence is a terrible thing, but sadly in this day an age it is a necessary evil, but in all reality I hate violence, I hate death, it pains me to participate in these things, but again sometimes violence must be used. For example, you are responsible of the deaths of the people I held dear to my heart, relatives I considered them, but they're dead now, no point to spill blood and tarnish their name, but... their daughter, a person I consider my sister, you have been slowly poisoning her until she dies, just for monetary gain. Sadly people don't get to spend money in hell."<br>Naruto moved in a blur of speed that made Kuro eyes widen and waiver in fear. Kuro closed his eyes, not wishing to see his killer.

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>End of Chapter<br>xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx

My readers more mystery and intrigue to wet your appetite, do you care...maybe some but other just read this and that is that, and really that is all I care about, I have read time and time again authors that will threaten his readers just so he can receive reviews, why do reviews matter, because to them nothing else matters, they have an ego that cannot be satisfied, me I don't need that shit, if you review and say that my stuff is shit, at least tell me why, don't review and say "your grammar sucks." guess what no one that writes on this site has a fucking masters in english, so who gives a fuck, if it turns you off, I have other readers that read. You want to review? Tell me ideas that you wish to see incorporated into the story or questions on how I will take this story, I might even tell you spoilers.  
>Another thing to writers that would like to write babies into their stories, know this babies are incapable to coo, gurgle, and most any other things when they are new born, I read this one story where the baby laughs! That is a motor skill that a baby learns as it bonds with a parent, it can't just pop out of the womb and go and giggle. And before someone goes "how do you know?" I have a ten month old son, and a two year old son, I know my shit.<p> 


	9. Resurrected Feelings

Primal fear was not a reaction that humans experienced, years of evolution and the creation of armaments had almost extinguished that primal fear that the first humans felt, but on an occasion humans experienced that elusive fear. Kurahadol was not a man that feared easily, he had traversed the Grandline and lived through that hell; he had faced up against marines of high stature and immense power. Yet, the person he faced before him was the same as all those people he fought against, but something was buried underneath the surface, it bubbled and churned, it was never directed. Kurahadol felt that… thing, creep through this "Naruto's" body, and it pierced him like a spear; Kurahadol nearly choked when he met Naruto in the mansion. Kurahadol could only guess that it responded to Naruto's emotional state, because when he was looking at "his" Kaya she didn't respond like him, but now it felt as though he was standing in front of a broken dam and the water was surrounding him.

Kurahadol or Kuro, as the truth came out, watched as the man known as Naruto readied himself for battle, that fear he felt before was present but his flight natural response was in full mode, but his stubbornness was apparent and his legs disobeyed the order.

"You have caused great harm to Kaya and her life, Kuro... and normally I am not one for violence, regardless of what others have told you about me, I abhor it; but… there have been occasions where my hand was forced, and seems that this is another one of those moments, but in the end it is not my decision on your fate."

Kuro released a sigh of relief he didn't know he was withholding, Kuro expected Naruto to inform him who did, but Kuro expected Naruto meant Kaya, but she would never kill him, no matter how much he has wronged her, because she would believe that the Kurahadol she knew was still in him, stupid child.

Kuro was about to laugh until he watched as Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed, this made the fear resurface, seeing how Kuro was faster then everyone on this island, Kuro kept all his senses open to triangulate Naruto but what he didn't suspect was Naruto to appear in front of him on one of his hand, his legs high in the air, Kuro knew that people were not fast enough to bring their appendages down quickly, so he struck, swinging his bladed fingers at Naruto exposed stomach; inches before the blades connected, Naruto bent his leg, gripped the ground with his fingers hard enough to puncture the ground and grip it like a bar, and swung his knees down on the oncoming blades. Kuro grinned knowing that he might have not been able to gut him, but his blades were harder then steel, no one could break them.

Naruto's knees struck one of the blades and to Kuro's surprise the blade broke, Kuro knew to back off because his thought were proven wrong, he watched as Naruto's descent was altered and the turned like a corkscrew, his feet hit the ground and were pointed in Kuro's direction, and in a moment of extreme athleticism, Naruto's body turned 180 and his hands grasped the broken blade in the ground and when he came up from his turn, threw the blade and pierced through Kuro's right shoulder with an underhand throw.

The piercing of his flesh and muscle caused Kuro's body to bombard itself with adrenaline; this had the inadvertent effect to enhance his senses and reflex to a heightened level. Kuro's mind was to roll with the pain and shock his opponent; this however was not to be, as Naruto appeared in his guard again and broke through it like wet tissue paper.

Naruto used his elbow to strike Kuro's wrist, this resulted in an external audible crunch; the pain dazed Kuro, and he loosened his guard. In that small window Naruto grabbed the broken wrist and spun around Kuro's frame, and turned behind Kuro. This movement caused Kuro's arm socket to over-extend and dislocate; the reason it did was because Naruto did not rotate the shoulder cuff, Naruto pulled the arm back in a linear movement.

In a point of a battle when the pain experience for a person becomes to much for that person to bear and withstand, the mind will shut down to protect itself from the immense pain the receptors are experiencing. Naruto noticed the lag in Kuro's movements and knew he had won. In response to Kuro's predicament Naruto relieved him of his blade. In a swift slash, the blades on the gloves were severed; making the glove that had five in the beginning and then four when Naruto broke off one, now only had a few inches of the blade near the base and the finger tips.

Naruto gathered up the blades one at a time, not at all concerned of Kuro, when Naruto was done he moved in front of Kuro. Naruto turned his head to the side as he watched Kuro; the man had passed out from the pain.

"And to think you were a captain, how did you ever lead a crew if your body shuts down when experiencing pain…"

Naruto sighed and grabbed one of the broken blades; he looked at Kuro with something akin to pity, and as quick as that expression came Naruto thrusted the broken bladed into Kuro's thigh, which pierced through the thigh and into the ground, as soon as it struck the ground Naruto bent the metal to anchor Kuro in place.

With another piercing, Kuro's body was shocked awake from the new pain; Kuro opened his eyes and tried to move, only to feel the sharp blade carve the wound as he moved. A sharp scream exited from Kuro and his body began pumping more adrenaline to counteract the pain. Kuro looked down at his thigh and found the culprit, anger flushed through Kuro's body and he picked his head up to glare at his opponent. Kuro's eyes widen to a shocking level when he saw a blade enter his abdomen at a downward angle; the pain of this blade was lessened by the adrenaline coursing through his body, but it was the stress sound of metal being bent that caused his mind to hum with fear.

Two more broken blade entered Kuro, the witness' of this torture found it hard to stomach the cruelty that Naruto was showcasing. The green moss colored hair swordsman watched the scene with disconnection to the world, Zoro watched with an apathetic look even though his mind was flooded with concern for Naruto. Zoro's interactions with Naruto were problematic in the first place, Zoro always saw Naruto as a hurdle in his path to being the greatest swordsman. Yet even if it was a friendly rivalry, possibly one-sided, Zoro never feared that Naruto was too far ahead of him. The realization that Naruto could be cruel, or even act in a cruel manner, was never a possibility, this change though made Zoro question his projection as the greatest swordsman, did he have to cut himself off emotionally, and if he did would his sword style, which is mostly based on emotions, be affected. Though this blunder was affecting his mind, Zoro wouldn't make such an assumption, Naruto was different, and he had to wait to see if that changed him as a swordsman.

Nami watched the scene with Usopp, and a newly arrived Kaya, Usopp and Kaya were horrified by the actions that Naruto was displaying, but Nami was the one that for some reason was wracked with pure fear. If anyone would ask later she would deny, but in this small moment in time she compared Naruto to the person that destroyed her life and the lives of her fellow islanders. The torture that Naruto was partaking in was akin to what Arlong did to his victims, the key difference was that Naruto didn't seem to take ecstasy from his actions; in fact the more he did it the more he got angry.

Soon the scene ended and Naruto was left with one blade in his hand, Kuro had seemingly broken down and was blubbering with tears and hyperventilating. Naruto watched as his work had did what he intended, and in a quick moment, a dark spot began to spread near Kuro's crotch, and it dispersed down his legs, until it pooled at his feet. Naruto stopped and looked at the broken man and sighed.

"Pain… in this world pain is absolute, everyone feels it, and everyone averts their path so they don't experience it. There are many types of pain, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Currently you feel physical, and I feel emotional and spiritual. Spiritual because I have gone against my own philosophy…pain and death are closely related to love…when someone we love is in pain we want to protect and alleviate their pain, and when someone we love dies we go through either two stages, grief or revenge…my actions in my life have caused many people and their loved ones to experience this pain, and I have had to kill the ones that take the path of revenge…"

No one was shocked that Naruto said this, in the shorts moments that they have known Naruto they have knew immediately that he had power and strength, and when you use that power, their can be a negative aftermath.

"…so another and myself, we took a vow of pacifism, but don't you know…revenge is a vicious cycle that doesn't want to quit…but I still hold my pacifism as law, its just sometimes I have to protect the ones I love…"

Naruto moved the bladed weapon in a make shift stance, a stance that Zoro recognized immediately; Kaya heard Naruto's words and felt remorse that he was breaking his own law to protect the ones he loved, Kaya however watched as Naruto moved into a stance. It was this stance that told Kaya of Naruto's intentions, something that Kaya wanted to stop as much as possible. Naruto bent his knees slight and turned his body to the side so his left shoulder was directed at Kuro, his right hand positioned the blade at his hip with the point facing behind him, the left arm was crossed against his chest and his left hand hover over his right hand, where a foot of the blade's metal was poking from his grip.

Naruto took a steadying breath and zoned his eyes on Kuro; Naruto's left hand gripped the make shift handle and he showed a small movement at his shoulder. Naruto was about to draw when a fluttered of sound and cloth of yellow caught his eye.

Kaya stood in front of the immobile Kuro, someone that was bleeding from the wounds he had sustained from Naruto's attacks, Kaya noticed that Kuro had seemingly given up and was willing to die; it wasn't one where the death was accepted, but the one where the person saw no escape and was broken.

Naruto saw the defiance in his imouto (_younger sister_) and wanted to hear her out.

"Please don't kill him…"

Naruto relaxed his stance a little to show Kaya that he was willing to listen.

"I know that Kurahadol is responsible for my declining health and my parent's death, and I am just as mad at him for deceiving me for so long, but I don't want to see him die…no… I don't want my anii-san (_older brother_) to kill him…from what you have said you already have too much blood on your hands, and I don't want to be the reason you have to coat them with more."

Usopp heard Kaya speak to Naruto with such love and caring that for a moment he was jealous and angry, but hearing Kaya say "brother" relieved some of it; Usopp however watched Naruto as Kaya was speaking; Naruto showed no signs of his mind being changed, there was small signs of happiness when Kaya spoke, but it seemed that nothing had changed.

Everyone had different feelings and thoughts to this scene, but Luffy was one that people didn't expect, not as though they would know.

'_Why do you need to kill them…? Isn't beating them up enough…? What do you need to kill them for…? Will I have to kill…?._'

Naruto felt happiness when Kaya was done finishing her words, it was a wonderful feeling to know that someone cared for you that much, yet…Kaya didn't understand how the world worked, Kaya was pure and innocent, she was not one for the world he experience since he was young, but the others, the ones that decided to follow him and the ones going on their path had to know the truth, had to be prepared.

Naruto lowered his head and took a deep breath.

"Thank you for your words Kaya; you have no idea what they mean to me. They show me that my actions haven't changed the minds of the people I care for, but…"

In a flash of silver Naruto had moved, everyone did not see the movement, but they did see the end result. Naruto had moved his arm back into the stance and stood straight up; his movements dictated that he had done something, but for Zoro and Zabuza it meant something entirely. It would take a few moments for people to realize but Zoro and Zabuza knew the truth, Naruto had drawn the blade and had killed Kuro. Zoro was amazed that Naruto had obtained the mastery of the technique and had used it with such skill and precision. What Zoro and Zabuza saw was that Naruto had cut Kuro down… Naruto had cut Kuro… who was 5 meters away from him, Kaya was obstructing his striking path, and the group of other including Zoro was standing right behind them.

Naruto dropped the blade and walked away; he stopped momentarily and looked back.

"Know that your conscious is clear Kaya, I didn't kill for you, I did it for me; I had failed to protect the people I found precious, I had failed to protect those that I treasured. Someone destroyed my treasure, someone ended my treasure's present and future; for me, my treasure is all I have left, all that keeps me going, its and eye for an eye world, Kaya, and if someone harms my treasure, their life is forfeit."

Naruto walked away from the scene and continued down the dirt path, Naruto continued to walk just before a red energy broke through reality and Naruto disappeared within it.

Kaya watched in tears as her anii-san spoke in a finalistic tone, she knew that if she turned around she would find Kurahadol dead. Kaya saw the movement Naruto made and knew that Kurahadol…Kuro, and met his end by Naruto's hand. Kaya however wasn't upset about that, she expected that Naruto was going to kill Kuro regardless of what Kaya said or did, but it was his eyes when he did it. They seemed dead, the life that was once in them had disappeared when he swung his blade. For Kaya that was the destroyer of her world, to know that her brother had killed so much that he seemed to die every time he did it.

Kaya never wanted to see those eyes again, those weren't her aniki's (_older brother)_[1], those were the eyes of a killer, and Naruto wasn't a killer, he was a doctor, the greatest one the world had ever seen, she couldn't let him lose himself.

Kaya turned to find that someone in a strange mask had rested Kuro's body on the ground, and it was already covered with a cloth of some sorts, Kaya noticed that there were two blood stains, one near the large mass under the cloth, which Kaya expected was the neck and the shoulders, and a smaller object, which Kaya expected was the head. Kaya quickly swallowed the bile that had build up in her throat; her actions caught the attention of the person with the mask, the person straightened up and walked away. Kaya looked at the person and then at the body, Kaya seemed to have made a decision and walked over to the collective group of Luffy and the gang and Usopp.

"I think we should get rid of the bodies and sink the ships."

Usopp's plan was met with confusion and doubt, mostly by Nami, Luffy attention was on the body and Zoro was drifting somewhere else.

"Why would you want to do that?"

Nami had conveyed her confusion, and watched Usopp. In the small interactions she had with Usopp all she knew was that the man was an idiot, not on the level of Luffy, but pretty idiotic, she hoped that whatever he said wasn't as stupid as he was.

"The villagers do not realize that a group of pirates nearly pillaged and killed them, and I don't think we should make them experience that; the only thing they know is that I ran through the village screaming that there were pirates, let them think that I was lying."

Nami was flabbergasted by Usopp's plan; his reasoning was not one that Nami believed that Usopp had in him, something that annoyed Nami; she was annoyed that she made a generalization on the man. As sound as the plan was the ships off the coast would be noticed regardless of what they did, Nami looked towards the coast, but found that the ships were gone.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THE SHIPS!"

Nami's eyes seemed to stretch out of her eye sockets as she looked at the coast, those galleon ships had disappeared without a trace. Everyone turned to look as well and they were just as amazed and shocked except Luffy… he just laughed.

The group noticed that a figure was walking up the dirt path. The figure was Zabuza but Luffy and his crew didn't know that, Zabuza stopped short of all of them and looked at the covered body.

"To think he has this much strength and skill, I must have been a fool to try and fight him…hmm?"

Zabuza's monologue was cut short by the appearance of Kaya in front of him; Zabuza looked down with wonder and waited.

"I would like you to take me to Naruto-niisan."

Zabuza looked at her and then up at the other's behind her and noticed that some of them were on guard…well just Nami and Usopp, Zabuza laughed at their attempt to be intimidating, something the two seemed to have discovered because they blushed at his laughter.

"Finish up with your friends, then Haku will take you…Naruto-taicho gave me my orders and I would like to finish them."

Kaya and the others knew that if the bandages on his face weren't present they would be creeped out by his smile, and it was because of this thought that they were creeped out. Zabuza left the area and walked back to the coast, dragging the body with him. An action that got the attention of everyone and they looked back at the spot, only to find the body missing. Kaya shivered slightly and walked with the rest of the group back to her home.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx

It would be a couple of hours later and conflicting emotions, until Kaya was ready to see Naruto, Kaya's words were lost on her when she thought about what she was going to say. Naruto was a man of power and would not be bullied into anything, she remembered a time before and his response to her was embarrassing. Kaya waited at the front gate, and looked up and down the trail that lead to her home, a small blob of shadow appeared and walked a sedated pace, once the blob came into focus Kaya remembered that it was the masked person, but this time the person wasn't wearing the mask, the mask was attached to the hip, and the person behind the mask was a very attractive man, Kaya seemed a little flustered but calmed herself.

Kaya remembered that the scary man called the masked guy Haku, once Haku was closer Kaya bowed at him. This action seemed to confuse Haku, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Follow me."

Kaya nodded and walked side-by-side with Haku, the walk down the path to the village was a short one, Kaya was thinking over the actions of Usopp's plan, and saw the results. The villagers were blissfully unaware that their village was almost destroyed, all the people were happy and carefree, however Usopp's punishment wasn't as extreme, people just reacted normally to Usopp like they normally did. There wasn't any hate or spite just annoyance. Kaya sighed at that and more on the fact that Usopp had left to go on an adventure, an adventure he promised to write about to her, this would have made her feel great but something had wormed her way into her heart; she as well wanted to feel the exhilaration of an adventure, she wanted to sail the seas.

Kaya could only blame/thank the arrival of Naruto, she knew that Usopp was destined for greatness and she would stay to wait for him, but with Naruto arriving it brought a want to join him, one that she felt was destroyed when she chose Kuro over him. However the want had seemingly turned into a need, a need to save her anii-san, a need to help him pick a different route then the one he was on. Kaya's thought turned to Haku, this person was a crewmember under Naruto, someone that had Naruto's ear, someone that could help her with her decision.

"Haku-sama?"

Haku turned his head slightly to notify Kaya that he had heard her.

"What do you think of Naruto?"

Haku stopped immediately and paused to think, Kaya however thought she may have said something to offend Haku, because he had stopped immediately and didn't move at all.

"Naruto-sama is a man with many different sides, he doesn't seem to be set in stone, and I think that is hurting him…He seems to trying to decide who he wants to be, as a captain he is powerful, but I don't think he sees us as anything more then crew, we are not the thing he treasures, and unless something changes I don't think that will ever change."

Kaya felt uncomfortable with the way Haku spoke for some reason, Kaya tried to pinpoint it but could only come up with Haku spoke with no emotions, but Haku showed a gleam of emotion when he said not being treasured, Kaya could connect this to Haku's desire to be treasured or that Naruto had done what Naruto did and made Haku care for him. Regardless of the truth it just proved to Kaya that her decision was no longer a need, but a want.

A hand landed on Kaya's shoulder and she squealed in fright and moved behind Haku, the person that did it was the man that appeared before her and Luffy's crew a few hours before. Kaya never really focused that much on the man because she was dealing with her fear for Naruto, but she saw a main factor that told her to fear the man.

One, Kaya could discern that the man was incapable of using his left arm, all the way up to the shoulder, and the other thing was that giant sword that was attached to his back, Kaya could guess the weight, but it proved that the man had enough strength in one arm to left that monster of a sword; but that he was also skilled with it because the man was in Naruto's crew.

"Your question makes me think you were fishing for some reason…you can do that to everyone else, however …don't do it to Haku… Now why are you so concerned with how we think of your brother?"

Kaya cringed at the man's tone when it came to Haku; this made Kaya curious to know the dynamics of their relationship, but Kaya was more embarrassed that she was called on her fishing expedition.

"The Naruto I see now is not the same as the one I knew, the Naruto I knew will never come back…but, even if that Naruto doesn't, I still wish to see a better Naruto. The Naruto I knew would have already considered you friends, better yet comrades, but something is stopping him, I want to remedy that, I want you guys to see the best Naruto this world has seen, but I can't do that if I stay… so I am going to ask Naruto if I can join his crew."

Zabuza watched the girl after her exclamation; she had no shortage of determination, but the girl's will would not be strong enough, Naruto as damaged as he was still had the will of a demon and nothing short of a coup would change that…

Kaya and Haku watched Zabuza stop in his silence and break out in a devilish smile, regardless that his bandages blocked the way, you could tell by his eyes.

"Little Kaya… your wish to be part of Naruto's crew will never happen, the reason being, is that from what we have seen, Naruto treasures you, and the best way to protect you is to leave you here…now, your wish and dream of Naruto is something interested in seeing. Do not, however, think there are any sentimental feelings or a wish for camaraderie. Naruto is a powerful being already, and what you wish for him would only bring more strength and power, and by being on his crew that power will make me even stronger. If I ever felt that Naruto would drag me down, I would kill him…so I propose a plan, we stage a coup, but not in the normal way. He will hate you, but if you take his choice away from him and we support your decision, he has to abide."

Kaya felt the jab that the man dug at her age and stature in the beginning, and she did in fact believe that he wanted to be Naruto's friend, but his tone and words changed everything; Kaya discerned that the man was a selfish being and would backstab Naruto when it became apparent that Naruto wasn't strong enough for the man. Her theory on the man was validated when he spoke with such glee at causing Naruto discomfort. Moments later another man appeared in a matter of flash of black and stood next to the evil man, he seemed gleeful about something.

"Did I hear correct? We are doing something for the good of our Captain in an evil underhanded way Zabuza-san?"

The man now identified as Zabuza to Kaya, nodded at the new comer's question, Kaya squealed in her head in joy as she saw the man become serious; if he was against it Kaya would kiss him, Kaya didn't want to face Naruto wrath, Naruto always like being a free spirit with a choice and when you took that away he did cruel things.

"I approve."

Kaya faulted when the new comer stuck his thumb out and smiled a teeth showing grin.

'_Evil… you all are evil, isn't Naruto your beloved captain._'

Kaya was confounded by the glee that this newcomer exuded, but Kaya was perplexed by something, the idea to stage a coup for the betterment of their captain meant that these men, well the new comer and Zabuza, wanted Naruto to be a better person in their own ways, but she knew that the amount of glee these men showed with just the idea of causing Naruto discomfort, never came out of nowhere something was the catalyst for there emotions. Kaya knew she had seen this before, Kaya thought about it until a memory popped in her head.

"Naruto's training is torture, huh?"

As soon as "training" left Kaya's mouth, the three men in front of her reacted. The blonde cowboy squealed like a little girl and ran away screaming in a amazing display of speed, Zabuza looked left and right before he seemingly exploded in a cloud of…mist? Lastly Haku pointed to the dock of the island, which pulled Kaya's attention away from Haku and she turned to look, when she did in fact see what Haku pointed at she turned to see a peculiar sight, a six inch thick sheet of ice was stood on the ground facing like a mirror, and the last few inches of a leg disappeared in the ice. Kaya was flabbergasted by the speed and ways at which her brother's crewmates left, but was more amazed by what made them leave. Kaya grimaced at her thought.

'_And I want to be on the crew of my brother, a crew that runs scared when his training is mention…_'

Kaya groaned in fear and sulked all the way to the boat.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Naruto was not privy of the munity that was going to happen soon; his concern was more on the scroll that arrived for him a while back. Grandfather Hiruzen had sent another mission and its parameters while he was out, the mission was a fact finding…just like the one with Kaya. It seemed that one of his grandfather's business ventures had fallen on hard times, and the business was on the path of foreclosure, however the owner of the business had always kept up with the payments on the loans from the bank, but in the last 10 years, the timely payments have lessened and stopped altogether. Hiruzen was sending him to discover the cause and provide aid if necessary. This mission was normal however the people involved caused Naruto's concern.

Naruto's thinking was interrupted by a sharp rap on his door; sighing, Naruto called out for the person to come in as he looked over the small amount of information that Hiruzen had granted him.

Naruto looked up when the person cleared their throat; Naruto found Kaya standing before him with her arms behind her back, and a look of discomfort on her face. Naruto could only guess the reason for his little sister's discomfort, but knew better to guess when he could just get the truth from her.

"You look uncomfortable Kaya, what's wrong?"

Kaya shuffled slightly and took a deep breath before she spoke.

"I last heard from you when I was six, that's 11 years Naruto-niisan, and when you come back your not even close to the same person that you were…I know you have changed from everything you did and had to do, but… you seem confused, conflicted. You used to be able to act without thinking, and everything you did was for the betterment of people, but now it seems you think to hard and ruin everything you have ever accomplished."

Naruto had no idea where this was going, but her testimony was a little… innocent, Kaya was not aware of the things that he had to do or had done, and she became passionate for some reason.

"You remember what I told you I would become when we met next?"

Kaya was confused, she had no idea how his ambition of the past had any merit in their conversation.

"You said you were going to become a doctor."

Naruto nodded and moved out of his chair to look out the window in his office.

"I was told that the thing I wanted most, I couldn't have…I had a plan, a dream, but my hopes and dreams meant nothing to others. I was forced to train, forced to be a weapon for whoever was stronger then me, and then when I decided that I was not going to be a weapon anymore… they threw roadblocks, obstacles. They threw enough so my dream was right on the other side that I would be deterred and I would turn around, but they didn't expect the one thing I would do… I destroyed those obstacles and once I did I lost whatever chance I could at being a doctor. They forced me into a corner, and when they expected the only choice I have was to give up, I fought and killed. They took my dream from me so I had to make a new one."

Naruto watched Kaya's expressions as he talked, and all he saw was pity. Pity was an emotion that had so many ties with empathy, to feel for another. People say don't pity them, but it's in those moments they are asking you not to treat them like a human but as a monster. However Kaya's pity was wanted, needed even; it was in that small moment that Naruto felt Kaya's empathy that he had an epiphany. Naruto walked over to Kaya and crouched next to her.

"My current dream is different then my other one, I have the skills and abilities of the greatest doctor but I can't be one because I have killed, but from the ashes of my old dream I created a different one."

Naruto leaned into Kaya's guard and whispered into her ear, it would take a few seconds for Naruto to stop speaking but when he did Kaya had a look of pure confusion.

"I have told you this Kaya because I know I can trust you, I treasure you more then you know, and I wish to keep you safe, so… take my dream and wait for me okay…"

Naruto turned towards the door and gestured Kaya to leave. Naruto waited to see Kaya's figure pass him but she never did. She did the opposite actually she stood up and sat on his desk and shook her head no.

"Naruto, I came here with the courage to tell you that I am going to be part of your crew… knowing that if I did that you would hate me for infringing on your freedom, but after hearing your dream I have no doubts anymore. I, Kaya Hargreave, am one of your crewmates; I know I can be strong, strong enough to help you see your dream through, and no matter what you say I am staying."

Kaya expected Naruto to become angered by her declaration, but all she saw was his smile and he sighed as though he knew something.

"Those three gave you the courage to munity against me didn't they?"

Before Kaya could decline or confirm the three mentioned appeared behind him.

"You know Sarutobi Hiruzen once said that those that protect those that are precious to them would gain something he called the "Will of Fire". Something I thought was ludicrous until I saw it myself. That type of strength is infectious, and it is something I want to experience for myself, and if that means we have to force you to do it well… that is something I can deal with."

Zabuza's words made Naruto chuckle, Zabuza was a greedy bastard, but Naruto knew the truth about Zabuza, it was the reason he allowed Zabuza to stay. Sabo and Haku seemingly agreed as well, a fact that annoyed Naruto. Naruto sighed and looked at Kaya, she had a severe look of anticipation, and Naruto decided to put her out of her misery and nodded in agreement. Kaya bounced up and down, to the enjoyment of the three men that were watching her; an act that Naruto saw and brandished a knife of sorts in response. The three saw the look and the knife and ran for their life, with a crazed Naruto behind them.

Kaya chuckled at the sight and looked down at the scroll on the desk she was sitting on. The next location of the mission was in Shimotsuki Village, and the Isshin Dojo was involved.

xxXXxxXXxxENDxxXXxxXXxx

Author's Note:

_I must say that I feel that I have been able to accurately express the Naruto I wanted to create. My Naruto if you didn't already learned is a conflicted soul, he has had to deal with multiple personal personalities that he doesn't know who is the real Naruto, the entrance of Kaya was well planned even before I wrote this story, and everything regarding her I have tried to keep current with the canon, however know this, there is a secret regarding Kaya. A secret that I feel will shake your minds loose._

_[1] Understand that Naruto and Kaya are no way biologically related to one another, it is just a play on words._

_Now to dispel some curiosity that may have welled up, Kurama is indeed the name for the Kyubi no Kitsune, however THERE ARE NO TAILED BEASTS IN THIS STORY. What Kurama is will be disclosed later._

_Now… a short story to explain some things…._

xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

A Ship in the East Blue

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

A small figure looked out at the island that had broken through the horizon, the figure sighed at the sight. The reason for the sigh was the reason why he was traveling there, the purpose was revenue.

The figure jumped when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, his eyes quickly identified the person as his grandfather.

"Granddad, don't do that!"

The figures grandfather laughed at his grandson reaction, he smiled and rested his arm on his grandson's shoulders.

"Garp's training still giving you nightmares?"

The grandfather felt his grandson shiver in fear and he patted his grand son on the shoulder to alleviate the fear.

"That man should not handle any of his subordinates training."

The grandfather laughed at the joke and slapped his grandson on the back.

"But Garp had to learn his form of training somewhere; don't you remember that I trained that man?"

It seemed that his grandson did, because he turned to look at his grandfather with pure disgust and fear, the grandson shimmied away from his grandfather and kept his distance.

"Naruto, you should train yourself to remember details, because regardless of how insignificant they maybe, information is a doctor's tool."

Naruto calmed down when his profession was mentioned; he took a deep breath and nodded. Naruto looked out at the island and sighed once more. Naruto's grandfather, Hiruzen heard the sigh and felt the sadness envelop him.

"We are traveling to meet these people because they will be able to provide what you need. Your work with your friend has hit a road block… well more like the Marine's have cut your friends funding, and now you can't discover what make the universe tick."

Naruto grumbled at the mention of the Marines, Naruto could never understand why the repeatedly threw up roadblocks at him. The other was if his grandfather was the Master Fleet Commander, why didn't he just order them to stop. Naruto however never gained enough courage to ask his grandfather, yet he did ask for his help and his grandfather solution was to have Naruto make his own money, an idea that Naruto liked but had no idea how to accomplish it.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto and could only feel guilt for his grandson's predicament. Hiruzen knew in fact why the Marines had continuously hindered his advancement; Hiruzen approved of the reason but not the method however he also knew that Naruto would not agree. Hiruzen knew that he wanted to help Naruto with his dream, and regardless what he wanted Naruto to be Naruto wanted something entirely different.

It would be twenty minutes before the ship would dock at the island, something that Naruto felt was to long of a wait, but he would be patient for now, ironically when Naruto thought patient it went back to his dream. Naruto's dream was to be a doctor, the greatest that has ever lived, Naruto wanted to be one ever since he had met his friend Franklin, on the Grandline. Granted that Franklin wasn't a medical doctor, but a scientific doctor, Franklin was still a doctor; Naruto was so passionate about being one he made the decision to become Franklin's assistant, and was accepted. Naruto studied all he could about Medicine and Science, and even now still feels that he could learn so much more.

Naruto never could understood why his and Franklin's breakthroughs were not enough for the Marines, Naruto didn't dislike the Marines just the ones involved with his scientific development. Naruto suspected it involved who he was related to because when the heads that financed Franklin's researched learned who Franklin's assistant was they extended a invitation for Naruto to officially be recognized as a doctor with the Marines. An invitation that Naruto declined, Naruto wasn't against becoming a Marine; it was just that his dream was not ideal that he became a soldier at any point in time. If at anytime Naruto would ever take a life, his license to practice medicine would be revoked and he would be blacklisted and banned from ever becoming a doctor.

It was after his declination that funding to Franklin's research was cut, and Naruto found that his inventions and medical procedures advancements were barred from use and time later a Marine Doctor took credit for his creations.

Naruto turned to his grandfather Hiruzen for help, and his grandfather told him that research and development life blood was revenue and without it nothing could be created or discovered. Hiruzen also told Naruto that if Naruto would produce his creations without the Marines backing more people would recognize his work and the chance of corporate espionage would become non-existent.

Naruto's musing was altered when the boat finally docked at the pier, Naruto followed Hiruzen off the boat to a trio of people waiting for them. Naruto immediately saw the woman of the trio, she stood just short of the man holding her at the waist, she had a kind face with brown colored eyes, her hair was a soft blonde that was tied in a ponytail in the back, she wore a simple gray sleeveless vest shirt (wife beater), which was marred with stains and dirt, Naruto also guessed that she wore coverall because at her waist arms of sleeves were tied in a knot, the coveralls were tanish brown, and lastly she wore black leather work boots.

The man holding her wore the same outfit but had a different color scheme, the wife beater was black instead, and his coveralls were dark blue. The man had a brunette beard and military fade hair cut on his head, he had a thick square nose, but not enough to be considered odd, and he had blue eyes, almost the same color Naruto had. The both of them had the warmest smile on their faces, so warm that Naruto blushed with embarrassment. The last man was donned in a black suit, with black tie and shoes; the odd thing for Naruto was that the man had seemingly had a ring of white fur around his neck, the same fur was on top of his head, like an afro; Naruto however was staring at the glaring object jutting from the man's head, two brown swirled horns, like a goat or a ram.

Naruto continued to look at them even as he walked up to the trio, the man noticed Naruto's stare and laughed. Naruto watched as the man leaned down and looked back at him with a serious look, Naruto was scared that he had offended the man and waited for his punishment.

"Do you want… to touch them?"

Naruto had flinched away when the man spoke but when the man asked his question Naruto turned and looked at the man in awe, he moved both his hands out in front of him in a grabbing motion, an action that made the man look scared and confused. Naruto touched the horns but was amazed at his discovery. Naruto would grab at the horns all over and moments later would pull out a notebook and write in it, time and time again Naruto would go back and touch the horns again. The couple laughed at Naruto's inquisitiveness and just watched, when it came apparent that Naruto had let the situation get out off hand he stopped his experiments on the man's head and quickly rushed to his grandfather's side and buried his face in his robes in embarrassment.

"Are you quite done Naruto?"

Naruto heard the mirth in his grandfather's voice and retaliated. Hiruzen rubbed his stomach where Naruto had hit him, Hiruzen would never tell that Naruto was able to hurt him; it just went to show that Naruto was getting stronger and only 10 years old too. Hiruzen chuckled at Naruto reaction and moved him in front of him so the people they came to see could see him.

"Naruto, this is Patrick and Kanya Hargreave, the great shipping magnates and ship builders in the whole world."

Hiruzen found that the Hargreaves were easy to embarrasses, or it might be who said it, it didn't matter. Naruto's response was to look at them with the same awe as he did the man in the black suit.

"It's good to see you Naruto-kun. I, thank you and your grandfather for your investment with our company."

Kanya slightly kissed Naruto on the cheek, which had the made Naruto blush in response, Patrick just rubbed his hand on Naruto's head.

"It means a lot to us that you have decided to give us your money so you can make money."

Patrick laughed until he was slapped in the arm by his wife for his comment.

"Patrick, you should be ashamed, he is just a child, you should know better because of Kaya, and all the other times I scold you."

Patrick looked sheepish as he scratched his elbow; Kanya sighed and kneeled back down.

"Do you understand what is going to be happening sweetie?"

Naruto heard the question, but it wasn't that he didn't understand it was just that she really didn't clarify what she meant, and all Naruto could do was shake his head no.

Kanya was about to speak but was stopped by Hiruzen.

"I think we should take this conversation inside your home."

The Hargreaves nodded in understanding and began to walk away to show their guests the way. Naruto noticed that the man in the black suit was still around and looking at the both of them.

"My name is Merry, and if there is anything you want just ask."

Naruto smiled at Merry, but then let his eyes travel to the horns, an action that Merry didn't miss. Hiruzen grabbed Naruto's hand and followed the Hargreaves.

xxXXxxXXxxXXxx

Naruto was amazed by the home that the Hargreaves had, it was on the large side, but it wasn't as large as his grandpa's home on the East Blue. Naruto and Hiruzen were led into the house which was just amazing as well; the foyer was large and had to staircases that traveled up to the second story to a banister, a banister where he saw a little girl peering through the columns of wood. Naruto immediately analyzed the girl, she looked exactly like her more, yet the girl had yellow eyes instead of brown or blue like her parents.

Naruto wasn't able to analyze her more seeing how Hiruzen guided him to a room off the path of the foyer. Naruto kept his eyes locked on the little girl as he was pushed, and the girl made sure to follow him with her eyes and her head.

Naruto was lead into a dining room of sorts, the dining room however had three entrances for some reason and the table in the middle wasn't as large as Naruto would have guessed.

Naruto was offered a chair which he took and he waited until the talking started.

"Now down to business, if you will Kanya."

Kanya smiled at her husband and looked at Naruto and Hiruzen.

"Your grandfather contacted us and informed us that you had a need for increased revenue and that you needed it to help pursue your dream. At first we were hesitant, mostly because our business is not something that has a set future. The Hargreaves own many shipping companies, some in North Blue and South, and many in the Grandline, in fact our main ship building hub is in Water 7. We make "X" amount of money, and spend "Y" amount, without the funding we receive from our investors and government contracts we would be in debt. Our business is reliant on the times we face, because of Gold Rogers declaration of One Piece's existence, many people want ships, well made ships. And with the constant need of repairs and sometimes rebuilding a ship, we have found ourselves in a lucrative era of our business."

Naruto listened to what Kanya was speaking and he was glad that she spoke simple enough for him to catch on, however try as he might Naruto's attention was diverted by a small figure rolling at high speeds past the door opening. Naruto shook his head and refocused on the conversation at hand.

"So how am I going to make money?"

Patrick smiled at Naruto and moved out of his chair.

"What will happen is this… You will invest an amount of your choosing into the business, the money you invest will go to purchasing equipment that will keep the company innovated and a head of its time. The money that we make from our ship building and shipping will cover the costs that we had to spend, any money left over is split between the investors, depending on the percentage that you have contributed, and you will see the your percentage of the left over money. For example, if your investment helps the company with 15% of our costs, you will see 15% of the amount of money we acquire."

Naruto was able to understand the dynamics of the deal with Patrick clarifying the deal. Naruto leaned over to his grandfather and whispered into his ear. Patrick and Kanya were not worried that they had lost Naruto as a potential client, Naruto was in need of money, and the Hargreaves shipping and ship building company seen excess cash flow each period. It never occurred to them that it may have been less then Naruto wanted.

"Naruto has heard your proposal but he finds it lacking, I will clarify what he means, seeing how I can do it better- Naruto's dream as a doctor and a scientist is in need of almost endless financial security, and with the World Government halting the budget for his colleague, both of them are in need of this. Naruto however is asking is it possible to increase your income so he can have a large dividend?"

The Hargreaves mulled over Hiruzen's question, the thing was that there was a way to increase their income, but for it to happen it needed more capital then they were receiving. Patrick and Kanya moved in closer together so that they could speak.

"_You have reached the same conclusion that I have, but it's impossible, we are at a limited budget, and if we do this it could bankrupt us, the idea would be too much for our investors and they will back out._"

Patrick nodded at his wife's words, it would be irresponsible for them, and regardless of whom Naruto and Hiruzen were, their request would not be good for their business.

"_We will just have to tell them. This, however, could be the nail in the coffin and they might take there business somewhere else._"

Kanya and Patrick looked at each other and they nodded, when they looked back at the two, they seemed to have an acceptant posture.

"What you are asking is a possibility, however the type of capital it would need to be a success would be too much for our investors, and could potentially makes us bankrupted, so whatever you were hoping for is impossible."

The Hargreaves' looked at Naruto and expected some sort of disappointment or anger, but he seemed understanding. Naruto looked at Hiruzen and Hiruzen nodded.

"Before we came here grandfather and I spoke on this very subject, he knew that your investor's entitlement was limited and that if I hoped to see any lucrative profit you had to be willing to take your business further. He said however that the next step in any business from your stand point was making the company public. Grandfather said though that a company that went public and there was no demand was destined to shut down. I believe your company is great and the service is great, and I want more people to know of it to – so I told grandpa, so your company can expand and prosper I was willing to supply the capital for your company to increase operations and generate public interest, so in the future you can take the company public. However there is a contingency to my offer; when the company goes public I wish for the highest percentage available. Money is no issue."

The Hargreaves mouth fell to the floor and Kanya passed out from shock. The reason being was; the Hargreaves had already done the calculation on the capital they would need to increase operations, which would increase public interest.

"You understand what you are saying right. We only have ship building operations in the Grandline, and we only have shipping in the Grandline and North Blue, what you are willing to provide is a substantial amount of money… that's more money then the company makes."

Naruto smiled fondly and nodded, but his attention was pulled by the small figure again, this time however the girl leaped into the doorframe and did a quick scan, and when she saw Kanya she panicked and leaped away. Naruto chuckled slightly, an action that gained the attention of Merry who in turn looked at the doorframes; he saw the small figure and walked out.

"I am well aware of the substantial amount of money it is, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't know, however the plan to increase shipping operations is hindered. The fours seas are bisected by the Grandline and the Redline, a fact that all shipping companies are limited to; however with a discovery that my colleague and I, Franklin, have created could help. We have made a substance called Neo-Seastone, this stone is the same makeup as real seastone but there is a large difference; original seastones has the capability of negated the abilities of Devil Fruit users and warding off Sea Kings, the Neo-Seastones only wards away Sea Kings. So if we apply it to the bottom of your boats you will be able to traverse the Calm Belt."

Kanya awoken at hearing Naruto's declaration and she stared at the boy with awe and wonderment.

"If what you say is true, no place on the sea would be out of our grasp."

Naruto smiled at Kanya's words and her pride that she emoted, Naruto felt proud of his achievements and how they could help others.

"Currently though, Franklin and I are trying to create a portable bubble coating apparatus, so not only would ships be able to traverse east and west, they would be able to travel north and south under the Redline."

Naruto for some reason felt the need to gloat, something that made Hiruzen smile. Hiruzen was in fact proud of Naruto's accomplishments, always had been; yet to see Naruto speak about his accomplishments brought endless joy to Hiruzen. However, that emotion was interrupted when Hiruzen and Naruto saw the little girl pulling on something on the ground beyond the door, Hiruzen was amazed at the strength that the girl had, but when what she was dragging came into view Hiruzen gaped at the sight, the little girl was dragging an unconscious Merry, nonchalantly. Once she saw that she had an audience she, with tremendous speed and strength, pulled the body of Merry from view.

Patrick and Kanya noticed that both their guests were frightened for some reason, they even turned to see what they were looking at, but alas they must not have been fast enough to see what they saw.

"I am sorry for our lack of attention, Patrick... Kanya, however I must ask, the girl we saw on the banister on in foyer, was that your daughter?"

Both Hargreaves nodded at the question but found its appearance in their conversation confusing.

"I must ask, does your daughter have friends?"

Kanya looked at her husband and back at Hiruzen.

"Yes she does, she friends with this little boy Usopp from the village… why do you ask?"

Hiruzen seemed to be unsatisfied by their answer and just touched his chin.

"I ask because on multiple occasions, your daughter has appeared in both doors, quite adamant on knowing what is going on, quite animated if I say so, however this last time, I believe Merry went to direct her away… and we just saw her pulling an unconscious Merry as though nothing was wrong."

Hiruzen's voice deadpanned at the end and Patrick seemed to be shocked into silence but Kanya had a look of pure dread.

"KAYA!"

The little girl appeared from the door behind Naruto and Hiruzen, with a look of pure innocence, a fact that scared Naruto slightly. Kaya stopped in front of her parents with a giant smile.

"Yes mommy?"

Kanya glared at the little girl and kept it up, Kaya began to become uncomfortable, Kaya looked towards her father for help it seemed, but the same glare was present. Her last ditch effort was to look at the guests, but she found that they had found an interesting spot to look at away from the scene in front of them.

Kaya pouted and slowly turned her sight on her parents.

"Where's Merry?"

Kaya began shuffling her feet and looking down, she would move her head just enough so she could see her parents, but the glare was still there.

"I dunno."

No immediate reaction happened but Kaya still noticed that her parents were glaring at her, and at times the guests would glance over.

"Kaya, I am going to ask one more time, if you do not tell me, you will be punished."

Kaya tensed up at her father's words and there meaning, the word "punished" was only used when all other disciplined was off the table, and Kaya's butt still remembered the last time.

"Hallway closet."

Naruto fell off his chair when Kaya admitted to her actions; Naruto looked at the girl with pure dread.

"Why is Merry in the Hallway closet?"

Kaya pouted slightly and looked at her parents, maybe if she looked sad she could get a lesser punishment, or a time out.

"I was trying to make the boy laugh, so I would act all crazy in front of doors and move away. Merry must have seen me and came out to send me to my room, but I want the boy to laugh, so…I hit him with my sandal."

Naruto chuckled at Kaya's testimony, an actions that got a slap to the back of the head as punishment. Naruto bowed his head as he rubbed the spot that was hit.

"You know you could have just asked?"

Kaya and the Hargreaves looked over at Naruto, Kaya felt embarrassed at Naruto words, and Patrick and Kanya was embarrassed about their daughter's actions.

"Well as it is Patrick and I have to think over your proposition Naruto, and we have to speak with your grandfather. Why don't you go play with Kaya?"

Naruto looked at them with fear and as though he was going to cry, Naruto wasn't able to decline seeing how the little girl seemingly appeared in front of him and began dragging him away.

"You would sell my soul to the devil!"

Kaya showed the same strength as she pulled a frightful Naruto away, who had dug his nails into the floor. Hiruzen looked at the scene incredulously and with embarrassment, seeing how Naruto had gouged the floor trying to stay in the room.

"My apologies, I will pay for the damages…"

Hiruzen watched out the window as Naruto had gotten free and was currently running away from Kaya, and Kaya was smiling all the while.

"I am sorry that our arrival was at last minute Patrick and Kanya, but certain events have been set in motion and I am trying to keep Naruto, the people's focus of attention, out of the public eye."

Patrick and Kanya noticed that the tone of the conversation had taken a turn to a more serious matter, one that they respected by closing the doors and locking them, if Merry would awaken and the doors were closed he would respect the Hargreaves privacy.

"I would understand, seeing how Naruto's blood runs with that powerful man."

If Hiruzen was surprised by Patrick's words he did not show an ounce of reaction.

"Sadly Naruto's parental linage has not been announced, only a select few of Minato's friends know of Naruto link to him, however…one of the ones interested in Naruto's knows of Naruto's mother."

Kanya and Patrick didn't show any response to this, due to the fact that neither of them knew of Naruto's mother.

"Naruto is being singled out because of his supposed relation to me; many people truly believe that Naruto is my grandson, a fact that I have never admitted to anyone. Yet because of Naruto's ever growing strength and brilliance, they have blindly linked him as my blood relative. Currently my son, Asuma, and my grandson, Konohamaru, are currently in the Marine's. Both have already obtained levels of strength not normal; Marines want Naruto because of his growing strength and the intelligence and want to use him as an icon, and pirates want him, because he is the grandson of the "God General". I would support Naruto for whatever he wanted to be, either Pirate or Marine, but he doesn't want either of that he wants to be a doctor, just like my former student Tsunade."

The Hargreaves understood the impact that Naruto could have as an albatross for any of those groups; however they both also knew that Naruto would never have a normal life and suspected that Naruto would never have a choice in the matter.

"Patrick and I will write up the contract for Naruto, his plan is solid, and with his innovations he will bring much public interest into the company."

Hiruzen nodded at the both of them and looked out towards the sea in the background of the window, letting him find center.

xxXXxxXXxx

Naruto had kept up his pace of flight from the girl, Naruto knew that anyone would say it was unmanly for a boy to run from a girl, but Naruto would tell those boys to fuck off and see how they would feel if a girl that is willing to knock a full grown man unconscious just so she can make you smile. Naruto however slowed when he noticed that Kaya had become extremely tired, Naruto cautiously moved back to the girls' direction and watched her carefully.

"So, why were you in a meeting with mommy and daddy; aren't you a little young to talk grown up talk?"

Naruto smiled at the question and sat next to a flattened Kaya; she had fallen face first on the ground due to her exhaustion.

"Actually I am here to work with your parents."

Kaya turned her head to look at this "Naruto", he was confusing.

"Why?"

Naruto turned his head and looked for something that could help him explain. Once he found it he pointed to it.

"You see that old man over there?"

Kaya's eyes traveled to the old man Naruto was talking about, she saw the old man, he seemed to be in pain as he walked.

"That elderly man appears to be afflicted with arthritis, a common affliction among the elderly, now there are medicines and treatments that can reduce the pain to a manageable level, but they cost money…tell me Kaya do you think he has money?"

Kaya looked at the old man, only recently was Kaya educated on the purpose of money and even the word itself, because of Kaya's limited education she could not understand Naruto question.

"Let me make it easier, that man possibly has money, but not enough for the treatment. What my dream is…is to make it so I can travel from island to island healing those that are in need of my care."

Kaya understood some of what Naruto was saying, and what she did made her look at Naruto in awe.

"So you are working with mommy and daddy to do that?"

Naruto nodded and rubbed the little girls head, she was quite quick to catch how his working with her parents tied with his dream.

"Could I help you?"

Naruto paused to look at the girl and smiled at her, her question was so innocent and truthful, something that Naruto wished that other people would be.

"How bout this, when you get older you become a doctor, and once you do you can work with me?"

Kaya grinned with so much happiness and nodded with so much speed.

"It's a deal, and when you travel we can write each other."

Naruto chuckled and allowed Kaya to pull him some more.

"Let's go see Usopp."

Naruto nodded in agreement and let himself be pulled away. However Naruto's and Kaya's conversation was not a private one, moments after the duo left the space around the area distorted and twisted into itself, when the space righted itself out the single point seemed to swirl out of an eye hole on a mask, and orange mask with a swirl pattern, the mask was on a head with short dark brown hair, and the entire body was covered by a black robe with red clouds.

'_So this is where you have run off to Sarutobi, and I see that you have tempered Naruto-kun to a wonderful strength, but that dream of your's Naruto will never come to be, not with my leaders intentions for you… keep growing strong little "denchi"._'

XXXSHORTSTORYENDXXX


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